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Political parties, not voters, to pick key Michigan candidates

Michigan Republican Party activists will gather in Novi this weekend to decide nominees for secretary of state, attorney general and other statewide posts. Photo credit: Jonathan Oosting/Bridge Michigan.

Editor note: This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan (bridgemi.com), a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from Bridge Michigan, sign up for a free Bridge Michigan newsletter .” 

by Jordyn Hermani, (Bridge Michigan)

Michigan next Republican and Democratic nominees for secretary of state and attorney general will soon be decided — without any public votes.

Michigan is one of  where major party delegates routinely choose nominees for those consequential posts at conventions rather than primary elections, deciding which candidates get to go before voters in November.

The system allows Republican and Democratic activists to select nominees, and party leaders say it allows winning candidates to save money for their general election campaigns. But critics say it an outdated practice that stacks the odds against moderate candidates who might better reflect the statewide electorate.

Conventions are “an incredibly antiquated system that leaves the choice in the hands of party insiders,” said former Michigan GOP Executive Director Jason Roe, who in 2024 led a failed effort to let the public decide attorney general and secretary of state nominees in primary elections.

The Michigan Republican Party will host on March 28 in Novi. GOP hopefuls are:

Michigan is unique in that both major political parties host spring endorsement conventions where they effectively decide their nominees ahead of formal fall nominating conventions, which are required under the state Constitution.

Advocates say the early endorsement process — set to begin Saturday with a GOP , and continue next month with a Democratic Party  — gives prospective nominees more time to fundraise and campaign before the general election.

But “the end result … is the taxpayers then gift free ballot access to whoever is able to more effectively organize partisans on the convention floor,” said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist and CEO of the Lansing-based consulting firm Grassroots Midwest.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel — both Democrats — are term-limited, meaning neither can seek re-election. Benson is �����Բ��ٱ𲹻�.

The nominations for their posts are important: The secretary of state oversees elections and vehicle registrations. The attorney general is the state top law enforcement officer.

Convention delegates will also decide nominees for other key races, including the State Board of Education, Michigan Supreme Court and for governing boards that oversee Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.

While it possible the candidates selected at the spring conventions could be replaced during fall nominating conventions, that highly unlikely and has not occurred since the major parties began early endorsements.

“If you change horses in August, that doesn’t leave you much time” for a new candidate to campaign, said David Dulio, a political science professor who leads the Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement.

Why endorsement conventions?

Both parties have long held nominating conventions in the fall, but the Michigan Democratic Party was the first to hold a spring endorsement convention. The Michigan Republican Party followed suit in 2022.

Waiting until the August constitutional deadline to finalize nominations for posts like attorney general and secretary of state makes it “hard to organize a statewide campaign in less than three months,” former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer told Bridge Michigan.

For Republicans, only delegates selected at recent county party conventions may vote on who they want on the party ticket. For Democrats, anyone who joined the party can vote at convention, provided they registered ������ڴǰ���󲹲Ի�.

“Every cycle there discussion about changing the law” to allow for an early primary election that might include attorney general and secretary of state, said Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad. But sticking to the convention format allows candidates to compete without needing to spend “many, many millions just to win a primary statewide,” he said.

The Michigan Democratic Party will hold its April 19 in Detroit. Dem hopefuls include:

While major party nominees for governor, the state Legislature and Congress will be decided in this year Aug. 4 primary, the  requires certain offices to be decided at conventions. The convention nomination process is also .

The system was designed to let party insiders pick nominees “in smoke-filled rooms,” Democratic attorney general candidate Eli Savit said in  urging his supporters to register for the party so they can participate in the upcoming endorsement convention.

“But you can be in that room,” he said, noting that in a state with more than 10 million people, the nomination for Michigan top law enforcement post will likely be decided by “a few thousand people” at the convention.

While it never happened, both Brewer and Runestad noted the parties have the ability to replace their spring-endorsed candidates should new information arise that makes them unfit to be the nominee.

Disenfranchising voters?

Roe, the former state Republican Party executive director, was a key figure in the Michigan GOP move to add an early endorsement convention in 2022, a change he agrees gives nominees more time to campaign.

But, in general, nominating conventions “leave the choice in the hands of party insiders and really disenfranchises Republican and Democratic voters around the state,” he said.

In 2022, GOP Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo lost to Benson by . DePerno lost by a narrower  to Nessel, who first won her party nomination in 2018 despite opposition from organized labor, which had preferred a more moderate candidate.

The 2022 general election was good to Democrats, who secured a legislative trifecta for the , returned Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Nessel and Benson to office and maintained majorities on the state Supreme Court and State Board of Education.

Roe later  state lawmakers to amend the Michigan constitution so voters could weigh in on secretary of state and attorney general candidates, among other positions, in future elections. He was not successful.

Under the current system, Roe said it incumbent on the parties to vet their candidates for three things: Their background, their ability to fundraise and whether they come with any baggage — be that personal or political.

While voters could choose to change the nominating process by amending the Michigan Constitution, chances of that happening are slim. There are no active petition drives, and a November ballot proposal to allow a broader  is facing opposition from diverse groups like the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and Michigan Education Association.

Hemond, the Grassroots Midwest CEO, joked it could be possible if proponents were able to “find a rich benefactor that got $15 to $20 million laying around.”

Roe was even less optimistic, but said that if voters did choose to allow a constitutional convention, whether to continue the political party convention nominating process “would have to be a serious part of the conversation.”

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.