Gilchrist Leads Forlini in SOS Race, New Poll Shows

Voters are leaning toward Democrat Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist as Secretary of State this November, according to a new poll of likely voters commissioned by Michigan Enjoyer.

The Cygnal poll done in coordination with Beacon Research found 41% of the 600 likely voters from across the state would choose Gilchrist, who has served alongside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as lieutenant governor. Only 38% said they would vote for Republican Anthony Forlini.

The divide was split down ideological lines, with 83% of liberals saying they would vote for Gilchrist and 78% of conservatives saying they would go for Forlini.

A full 20% of voters said they were undecided in the race, much higher than more high-profile races.

Only 11% of respondents said they were undecided in the gubernatorial election and 13% said they didn’t know who they’d vote for in the U.S. Senate race.

But the problem is that the Secretary of State is important when it comes to election security and integrity. The only thing standing between whether noncitizens are able to vote is how our laws and procedures are enforced.

Our current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (who is overseeing her own election for governor) has handed our private voter information to election nonprofits while refusing to hand it over to the federal government.

We know that an unknown number of illegal citizens voted in the 2024 general election—over a dozen were caught. We also know the voter rolls need to be cleaned up.

Actually, they needed to be cleaned up a long time ago.

It’s true that the wait times at the SOS offices are better than they were during Covid, but how much fraud has been swept under the rug because the media are tame toward establishment Democrats like Benson and Gilchrist?

It’s a shame that more people don’t spend time thinking about the next Secretary of State. It’s not just another race on the ballot, it’s key to our election security and the future of our state.