Jocelyn Benson | |
|---|---|
 Benson in 2019 | |
| 43rd Secretary of State of Michigan | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2019 | |
| Governor | Gretchen Whitmer |
| Preceded by | Ruth Johnson |
| Dean of the Wayne State University Law School | |
| In office December 2012 – September 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Ackerman |
| Succeeded by | Richard Bierschbach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 22, 1977 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1] |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Ryan Friedrichs |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Wellesley College (BA) Magdalen College, Oxford (MPhil) Harvard University (JD) |
| Website | Government website |
Jocelyn Benson (born October 22, 1977) is an American academic administrator, attorney, and politician serving as the 43rd Secretary of State of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former dean of Wayne State University Law School, a co-founder of the Military Spouses of Michigan, and a board member of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. Benson is the author of State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process.
In 2018, Benson was elected as the Secretary of State in Michigan, securing the position with an 8.9 percentage point margin over Republican Mary Treder Lang. This victory made her the first Democrat to hold the office since 1995. She was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican Kristina Karamo by a margin of 14 percentage points, setting a record for the largest margin and vote share among statewide candidates that year.