Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks at the Michigan Democratic Party Nominating Convention in Lansing on Aug. 24, 2024. Photo: Anna Liz Nichols
Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra filed a complaint Oct. 12 with the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, alleging a breach of professional conduct.
The basis of the complaint is a donation made in April 2024 by a political action committee (PAC) controlled by Benson, a Democrat, to the campaign of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden while a case involving the MIGOP was before the court.
“Benson’s contribution to a Justice that she was appearing before is one of the largest contributions any person or PAC has been made to Bolden’s campaign and creates an appearance of impropriety that brings the legal profession into disrepute,” stated a press release by the Michigan Republican Party.
The case in question, DeVisser v. Benson, involved guidance issued in 2022 by Benson concerning the credentialing of election challengers and the procedures by which challenges could be reported. The Republican plaintiffs argued that guidance violated Michigan election law.
Both the Michigan Court of Claims and the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, overturning the guidance. Benson then appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court, which overturned those rulings in an August 2024 decision. That decision, which was decided on a 4-3 party-line vote, was authored by Bolden who was joined by the four other Democratic-nominated justices in the majority.
Hoekstra’s complaint notes that in April 2024 Benson’s Michigan Legacy PAC made an $82,500 contribution to Bolden’s campaign while the case was before the court.
In his complaint, Hoekstra said that just a month after the contribution, the MSC ordered expedited supplemental briefing and oral argument in the case.
“Then, and in light of such a huge contribution, Justice Bolden did not recuse herself, but instead proceeded to author an opinion reversing the Court of Claims and Court of Appeals decisions, as well as reversing longstanding precedent, all in order to allow Benson to continue with the actions that, until that time, had been deemed illegal by the lower courts,” stated the complaint.
Bolden, a Democratic former House member who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the court in 2023 to fill a vacancy, is running this election for a partial, four-year term against GOP-nominated Branch County Circuit Court Judge Patrick William O’Grady.
Hoekstra further said that whether or not the timing of the contribution, which he noted was “one of the largest contributions any person or PAC has made to Bolden’s campaign,” was a coincidence “does not absolve Benson from her higher obligations as an attorney and member of the Michigan Bar, and she also put her friend Justice Bolden in an at best embarrassing position.”
Hoekstra alleges the contribution violates several Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct including avoiding “conduct that undermines the integrity of the adjudicative process,” undue influence of a judge, and “conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”
Requests for comment by Michigan Advance were sent to both Benson and Harris, but have yet to be returned.
Hoekstra called the timing of the donation and the ruling that followed “highly suspicious,” and said that, “at a minimum, casts the practice of law and the administration of justice into ill-repute.”
He requested both an investigation into the matter and sanctions against Benson as a member of the Michigan Bar.
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