Democrat Jocelyn Benson will win Michigan’s gubernatorial race, AP projects

Jocelyn Benson will win Michigans gubernatorial race, the Associated Press projects. Benson defeated Republican Congressman John James for the states governor.

This is the first time the governor's race has been won back-to-back by the same party in decades.

Benson spoke at a rally that started Tuesday and continued into Wednesday. You can hear her speech in the video below

"And now the work begins. The challenges ahead are serious. There will be disagreements, difficult decisions, and days when the work feels harder than we imagined, but I know what Michiganders can accomplish when we come together around a common purpose," Benson said in her speech.

With 80.2% of the vote counted as of 1:55 a.m. Wednesay, Benson has more than 53.6% of the vote compared to 44.58% for John James.

Benson was first elected Secretary of State in 2018 that saw Michigan elect three women to the top state positions along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

She graduated from Harvard Law School and eventually served as the dean of the Wayne State University Law School. She left the university to lead the Ross Initiative for Sports Equality.

Watch below: The latest on the Midterm Elections in Michigan

In 2010, Benson published a book titled State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process

She ran for secretary of state in 2010 but lost to Ruth Johnson, but successfully won her race in 2018 and re-election in 2022.

James is a two-term congressman from Michigans 10th District, and also ran two U.S. Senate races in 2018 and 2020, where he lost to Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, respectively.