Overview
- Democratic nominee Jocelyn Benson announced Wednesday that Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks will be her lieutenant governor choice and the party will formally ratify the pick at its Aug. 29 convention.
- Brinks has served in the state House and Senate since 2012, was elected to the Senate in 2019 and became the chamber’s first female majority leader in 2023.
- Benson highlighted Brinks’s record on policy wins including free school meals, a large working-families tax cut and protections for reproductive and LGBTQ rights as reasons for the selection.
- The move gives the Democratic ticket West Michigan geographic reach and legislative experience and sets up a November matchup with the Republican ticket of John James and Jay DeBoyer.
- If elected, Benson and Brinks would form an all-female governor and lieutenant governor team, a pairing the campaigns say could influence messaging down the ballot and voter outreach across the state.