Michigan's gubernatorial candidates go head-to-head in debate four weeks from Election Day

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Michigan's candidates for governor went head-to-head in their first televised debate Tuesday evening.

On the November 3rd ballot will be Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the current Secretary of State and Republican John James, current 10th District Congressman.

Both are vying to replace Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited out of office.

From gas prices to data centers and flock cameras; in the one-hour debate, Benson and James answered over a dozen questions from mitten state viewers and voters, reiterating their stance on hot-button issues that voters will have in mind at the polls.

The debate began with opening statements; a crucial first impression for voters who may be seeing them for the first time.

"I hate politics, but I love Michigan and it breaks my heart that so many people are leaving Michigan to find opportunities," said Representative John James, Republican Michigan Gubernatorial candidate. "Many democrats want to blame Trump, but Michigan is 42nd in infrastructure, 43rd in economy, 45 in education, 46th overall. That means 90% of this country is doing better than us and we all have the same president."

"The three pillars of our campaign are driving down cost, increasing our wages, and ending corruption because as Governor, I will fight for you," said Secretary Benson, Democrat Michigan Gubernatorial candidate. "I will fight for the veteran who deserves access to the healthcare benefits they've earned, for the teachers who deserve better pay and more respect, for our kids whose future depends on what we do today."

One of the first questions asked was about high gas prices due to the war in Iran.

In Michigan, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.42.

Both candidates said they were open to cutting the state's gas tax which accounts for around 52 cents a gallon.

"I know the costs have gone up more than any other state on gas in Michigan and that's why we need people at the federal level to take responsibility for the mess they created and do something to reduce those costs," Benson explained.

"What I can do is I can call for a gas tax holiday, what we can do is use the MEDC money to put it back toward the people the half-billion dollars we use to fund it, if we actually had a rainy day that was efficient and wasn't blown in the past 8 years, then we would have a better ability to do that," explained James.
Data centers were another pressing topic that accounted for multiple questions in the debate, including whether non-disclosure agreements are necessary, to which both said no.

They talked about where they believe control should lie when it comes to developing data centers.

"We must have local control," said James. "Our electricity bills can't go up, we need to protect our water, prevent pollution that includes air, land, water, and noise pollution, and we need to prioritize our blighted brownfields over productive green farmlands."

"I've called for a moratorium on any new data center developments until we have real guardrails in place to protect local control, protect our water, require data centers to shoulder the burden of any energy usage, and invest in community benefits agreements that will protect our communities," Benson said.

Then a more recent issue to come across their desks: flock cameras and concerns for privacy.

Both can agree that it needs to be addressed.

"The state should put guardrails on the use and abuse of any technology that would harm the privacy of our residents, especially in a situation like this where so many local communities have raised concerns and we've even begun to see the potential abuse of this data by local communities," Benson explained. "That's also why it's important to preserve local control in making those decisions as well."

"Our Fourth Amendment is non-negotiable," said James. "The right to privacy is a constitutional right, and I will protect that as governor. Yes, we need to make sure our communities are safe, we will take local control, but we absolutely must protect our constitutional rights."

On Thursday, the candidates for Michigan's US Senate race Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers will be going head-to-head in their first debate.