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Benson lands influential Detroit endorsement in battle for Black voters
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has won the endorsement of the Original Eastside Slate, an influential Detroit political organization with a strong record of backing winning candidates, giving her campaign a boost in the battle for Black voters.
The endorsement, first reported by Metro Times, comes two days after the Black Slate, another historically important Black Detroit political group, announced its support for the campaign of former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running as an independent.
The dueling endorsements show how Detroit’s Black political networks are becoming an early battleground in the 2026 governor’s race, especially after a new poll showed Benson leading Duggan and Republican U.S. Rep. John James in a hypothetical three-way matchup.
“The Original Eastside Slate is endorsing Jocelyn Benson because she shows up and gets things done for our city,” Original Eastside Slate Vice Chair Carol Banks said in a statement. “Jocelyn is not only a proven leader — she’s a Detroiter who understands what our communities are up against.”
Banks pointed to rising costs and property taxes that are making it harder for Detroiters to stay in their neighborhoods.
“We need a governor who won’t just make promises, but will actually deliver for everyone, not just the people who live Downtown,” Banks said. “As Secretary of State, Jocelyn has shown up and delivered for the Eastside. We look forward to working with her to bring investment and opportunity back to our neighborhoods. It is time for a blue wave in Michigan, now more than ever!”
The Original Eastside Slate has long been a force in Detroit politics, particularly on the city’s east side, where slate cards, neighborhood networks, and grassroots organizing can help shape turnout in local and statewide races.
Benson’s campaign pointed to the group’s record of backing winning candidates. In the recent Detroit mayoral race, the Original Eastside Slate endorsed Mary Sheffield, who defeated Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., the candidate backed by the Black Slate. Sheffield won more than three-quarters of the votes, becoming the first Black woman to serve as mayor of Detroit.
The Eastside Slate has also supported Benson in her previous campaigns for secretary of state, as well as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
“It means so much to have the support of the powerful Eastside slate as we build a people-powered campaign to win across Michigan — and throughout Detroit,” Benson said in a statement. “As a Detroit resident, I see every day the skyrocketing costs that force so many families to choose whether to buy groceries or cover their electricity bill, as the price of housing, health care, food, and just about everything else is through the roof.”
Benson said that as governor she would focus on lowering costs and increasing wages.
“As governor, I will lower those costs and increase wages by taking on corruption and making sure the government shows up when you need it and makes your life easier,” Benson said.
Benson’s campaign also pointed to her long involvement in civil rights work and Detroit institutions. The daughter of two special education teachers, Benson has said she was raised in a middle-class family that emphasized hard work, opportunity, and service. After college, she investigated threats to democracy and civil rights, including going undercover in Montgomery, Ala., to investigate domestic terrorist cells and white supremacist and neo-Nazi extremist groups that emerged after the Oklahoma City bombing.
Her campaign said that work, along with time spent in Montgomery and Selma, deepened her commitment to civil rights and eventually brought her to Detroit more than 20 years ago to clerk for Judge Damon Keith, the legendary federal judge and civil rights icon. As dean of Wayne State University Law School, Benson raised money for scholarships, froze tuition, and expanded financial aid to make legal education more affordable.
Benson’s campaign says that background has influenced her run for governor as she focuses on affordability, housing, health care, and making government work better for residents.
This year, Benson has rolled out plans to lower health care costs and expand access to care, as well as a housing affordability plan that calls for increasing housing production, cutting red tape, speeding up permitting, strengthening renter protections, and giving communities more control over short-term rentals.
The endorsement comes at a critical moment in the governor’s race.
On Tuesday, the Detroit Regional Chamber released a poll it commissioned from The Glengariff Group showing Benson leading with 34%, followed by James at 29% and Duggan at 23%. A previous Chamber-commissioned poll showed Duggan leading a hypothetical three-way race with 30%.
The Chamber has endorsed Duggan, making the latest poll a troubling sign for the former mayor as he tries to build a statewide coalition outside the Democratic and Republican parties.
The same day the poll was released, Duggan’s campaign announced the Black Slate’s endorsement and said it was evidence that he can build support across party lines.
The Black Slate, which is rooted in the Shrine of the Black Madonna, has played a major role in Detroit politics for decades and helped elect Coleman A. Young as the city’s first Black mayor in 1973. Duggan’s campaign emphasized the group’s history of Black political empowerment and its willingness to support candidates based on community interests rather than party labels.
“At a time when division has replaced dialogue, and conflict has replaced collaboration, Michigan requires leadership that is willing to chart a different course,” Duggan’s campaign said in announcing the endorsement.
Duggan said his career has been driven by an effort to move beyond “us versus them” politics.
“In 2013, everyone said a white guy wouldn’t win in Detroit,” Duggan said in a statement. “But by listening to and collaborating with groups like The Black Slate, I delivered on plans to turn the street lights back on or reduce carjackings at gas stations. We’re building the same movement all over the state, with a huge thanks to The Black Slate for believing in this campaign.”
But Duggan’s record as mayor has also drawn criticism from advocates who say some of his administration’s policies disproportionately harmed poor and Black Detroiters. Under Duggan, Detroit carried out mass residential water shutoffs for unpaid bills, a policy condemned by civil rights and human rights advocates. The ACLU of Michigan has described Detroit’s shutoff campaign as the largest residential water shutoff in U.S. history, while Metro Times previously reported that nearly 150,000 households had water shut off since 2014, drawing criticism from human rights groups, including the United Nations.
Duggan also faced criticism over Detroit’s overassessment of homeowners. Black homeowners and advocates filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights alleging that Detroit, Wayne County, Inkster, and Highland Park had overtaxed primarily Black and low-income homeowners. Metro Times previously reported that inflated property tax assessments resulted in an estimated 100,000 Detroiters, most of them Black, losing their homes to foreclosure.
During Duggan’s three terms as mayor, he was accused of prioritizing downtown development over struggling neighborhoods, doling out tens of millions of dollars in tax incentives to billionaire developers.
Benson’s endorsement from the Original Eastside Slate shows that Duggan does not have Detroit’s influential Black political organizations to himself.
Benson’s campaign has been building support among Detroit leaders and organizations, including Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero, former U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, state Rep. Tonya Myers-Phillips, the Rev. Horace Sheffield, Mothering Justice founder Danielle Atkinson, actor and former U.S. Senate candidate Hill Harper, and former City Council President Saunteel Jenkins.
For Benson, the Eastside Slate endorsement helps reinforce a message that she is not only a statewide Democratic candidate, but also a Detroiter with support from one of the city’s influential grassroots political organizations.
For Duggan, he is facing a Democrat with growing support in Detroit and a poll showing him losing ground in the race he once led.
Detroit is Michigan’s largest Democratic stronghold and likely will play a critical role in choosing the next governor.