Michigan’s major party candidates for governor met for the first time on the debate stage Tuesday night. The Grand Rapids television station WOOD-TV hosted the event.
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and her Republican opponent, Congressman John James (R-MI 10), used questions on foreign policy, education, and energy to differentiate themselves from one another.
Benson frequently tried to tie James to President Donald Trump and unpopular administration policies like going to war with Iran and starting a trade war with Canada.
“If you like gas pushing $5 a gallon, or mortgage rates over 7%, or tariffs taxing just about everything we pay for, then John James is your guy,” Benson said during her closing remarks of the debate.
James routinely emphasized his willingness to break with the president. He called for an end to the war in Iran — a turnabout from his previous statements — and for smarter trade policy.
“I’ve actually called out the administration, specifically talking with the trade ambassador, in saying we must get back to the table, stop acting like children, and negotiate a reciprocal, fair, and mutually beneficial arrangement,” James said.
Benson, for the first time, said she’d support suspending the state gas tax.
The question is among the latest policy debates to enter Michigan’s political races as gas prices spike largely due to the war with Iran. Benson previously called for the suspension of the federal gas tax to give Americans some savings on fuel.
Other policies Benson said would bring some price relief to Michiganders were a bit more unclear. She said she wanted to sign an agreement directly with Canada that would exempt Michigan from tariffs being charged under the trade war.
“You create an agreement between the state of Michigan and our neighbors to the north that says anything that goes from Michigan to Canada or Canada to Michigan are exempt from these tariffs,” Benson said.
It’s uncertain how Benson would go about putting that policy in place or what authority Michigan would have to supersede national trade policy.
“The state doesn’t have anything to do with international agreements,” James said during the debate when Benson first brought up the idea.
On education
Michigan’s poor reading scores have been a consistent theme for all candidates in the November general election. The state’s latest scores show only around 40% of 4th graders reading at level.
James and Benson have both named similar policies like increasing support for teachers and students as ways they’d improve education. But they drew some separation when it came to accountability measures.
Michigan in 2023 repealed its “Read by Grade 3” law that aimed to hold students back for falling behind. James said he’d be open to bringing a similar policy back.
“Retention is absolutely on the table, and we have to make sure that we’re doing it in a manner that doesn’t hurt or crush the spirit of the child,” James said.
He continued by calling on Michigan to follow Mississippi’s model for reversing its reading scores. It’s been a popular Republican refrain this election cycle. James campaigned with Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves earlier this week.
For her part, Benson said decisions to hold kids back should be left with teachers and parents, not the state.
“At the same time, we need to be providing the support for every school, for every parent, for every district, for every kid, for every teacher to ensure it never gets to that point, and if it does, that we do come in with the wraparound support that our teachers, our students and our school districts need,” Benson said.
Energy takes center stage
While Benson hammered James for his association with Trump administration policies, James criticized Benson for her support of Michigan’s clean energy laws. The state requires a full transition to clean energy by 2040.
James said Michigan shouldn’t rule out any forms of energy that could be cheaper to produce.
“We need to make sure we have an all-of-the-above approach where yes, renewables, yes, natural gas, yes, nuclear, all of the above so that we can keep our prices low so we can remain resilient, but this needs to be economical as well as environmental,” James said.
Benson doubled down on investing in clean and renewable energy sources as the best way to advance the state’s economy and lower power bills while also protecting the environment. She also pushed for greater utility company regulation.
“I know the next governor of Michigan must ensure we are ending profit-driven rate hikes that have gotten us here where our electricity bills are going up, in some cases more than many other states. Also, invest in clean energy infrastructure,” Benson said.
Data centers
The debate also gave both candidates a chance to rehash the ongoing debate over data center policy. Michiganders have shared concerns about their potential environmental impacts and high energy needs.
Benson advanced a statewide moratorium on data centers while lawmakers figure out better policy protections. James’ position focused more on “local control.”
James previously called for a moratorium as well. But he said he’d support communities’ choices to welcome or block a data center, without the state government getting involved.
“If free people decide what they want to do then the government should get the heck out their way, they should facilitate it,” James told reporters after the debate.
When pressed on how that would count as a moratorium if the state isn’t pausing approvals for new data center projects, James’ stance got less clear.
“It’s a moratorium on Lansing and not the people,” he said.
The candidates also accused each other of profiting off data centers — James because of his investment portfolio, Benson because her husband works for Related Companies, which helped bring a massive AI data center to Saline Township over the original wishes of the local government.
Benson sought to play down those concerns. “He earns a salary from a company that, among other things, he’s worked to build developments in Detroit like the University of Michigan Center for Innovation, and now works on no Michigan projects but only affordable housing work nationwide,” she told reporters, denying her family made money off data centers.
Third party unrest
Outside WOOD-TV’s Grand Rapids studio where the debate took place, Libertarian Party nominee Anthony Hudson held a small protest over not being invited to attend.
Speaking through a amp in the back of a pick up truck parked on the street, Hudson said he’d be responding in real time to the debate’s questions.
He argued he was doing it for all the third-party candidates who weren’t allowed to take part.
