Garlin Gilchrist discusses Secretary of State 2026 election issues

All right, my friends. Next up, we have a very special guest joining us. He wants to be your next Secretary of State. And the Chaldean Chamber and the organizers, in the interest of continued balance, to show you the different sides of the political coin, have a very qualified political athlete himself, someone who has served as Lieutenant Governor under Governor Whitmer. And now he wants to be your next Secretary of State. It's my distinct pleasure to introduce to you, ladies and gentlemen, Lieutenant Governor Garland Gilchrist. You're still a lot taller than me. I try to be every day. Listen, welcome to the Chaldean American Luncheon. We're glad that you're here today. This is an important job and one that, you know, people oftentimes, they don't realize the importance of a job until they start running for it. What is something that you, as Lieutenant Governor, who put your hat in the ring, realize about the Secretary of State's office is critical that you didn't know before? So, first and foremost, I really appreciate the opportunity to be here with you, and the Secretary of State's office is interesting because it's one of the few parts of state government that literally everybody has to deal with. And so I think while people may have a particular understanding of the office, everybody has a relationship with it. So that's one thing I thought about. The second thing is connected to that, and it's the fact that in order for the Secretary of State's office to serve you, you have to give it something, and that's information about you. In order to deal with your ID and your car tags and all that kind of stuff, you've got to tell the Secretary of State where you live, what kind of car you drive, what color your eyes are, your real name, all this information about you. That means that the Secretary of State holds more data about Michiganders than any other state department or agency. And so what I, when reflecting on that, I recognize that the Secretary of State's office has a responsibility to protect the privacy of the people of Michigan, to make sure that no outside entity can get their hands on that private data to use it against the people of Michigan, whether that is the federal government and the Trump administration that has sued Michigan and 20 plus other states to get their hands on unredacted voter information, or whether it's big technology companies that would like to get their hands on that information to target people and build products without their permission, to build data models without their consent, and feed it through data centers that people don't want in their communities, the Secretary of State plays a role in protecting that privacy. And as the only software developer elected statewide in America, I'm uniquely qualified to protect that data and that privacy for the people of Michigan. Draw that line for me again between data centers and the Secretary of State's office relative to the information there. Let's talk about, so much of people's anxiety about today and tomorrow is anxiety about technology. And specifically when it comes to anxiety about technology and how it's going to influence people or impact their lives, that talks about anxiety about artificial intelligence and large language models. Well, as again, I got a degree in computer engineering and computer science from the greatest university in the history of the world that is actually going to win a football game one day, and that's the University of Michigan. And what a large language model is, or how that was built, was by taking information and data that people put online who didn't suspect that a company one day would come around, hoover it up, reorganize it, and build a product that would spit back words that you like it could talk to you. So by making sure that those companies don't get unfettered access to private data about the people of Michigan, it protects them from being taken advantage of from a system like that. And so as a software engineer and a secretary of state, I can do something about it. I do want to, since we're talking about data centers, I just want to ask you about that because it is of deep concern. I mean, the debate last night with Jocelyn Benson and John James, that was kind of like a line in the sand. These two are really going at it because people, they care deeply about their communities, their environment, their water. I know that Secretary of State wouldn't have exclusive, like, you know, access over data centers or the power around that. But someone who wants that job, what are your biggest concerns about data centers outside of the data, about the building of these centers? Look, and I'm saying this again just as a credential, like I am a technology person. I started my career as a software developer at Microsoft, building SharePoint into the fastest growing business in that company's history. I've started and sold two web-based technology businesses in my career. I think about technology and it informs how I solve problems. The thing that bothers me the most about data centers in the state of Michigan is the corporate bullying that it represents. What we have seen is some of the biggest, richest, most powerful companies on the planet go to some of the smallest communities in the state of Michigan and punk them into taking these projects. That's what's happened in places like Saline Township, where you had a situation where a community was presented with a plan from a set of companies, three of the biggest, most powerful companies in this country on the planet. And that community rejected it. But after rejecting that plan, rather than trying to come up with a better one, they sued them. And when you are in a small township in the state of Michigan, it's hard to beat the biggest companies on the planet in court. And so they had to settle that lawsuit. And the terms of the settlement was eat this data center that you told us you didn't want several months ago. I think that bullying is what underlies any of the other concerns that exist about that project or projects like it. Well, Lieutenant Governor, some would argue that who abetted that bullying was the governor, your boss, by standing shoulder to shoulder with Sam Altman with a big American flag, smiling ear to ear in front of this data center that you're actually pointing out wasn't wanted in that community. Does that bother you, to work for someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with Sam Altman just pushing this forward? You saw I wasn't at the groundbreaking. You know, I think it's important to make clear that, you know, look, I stand against projects and that kind of bullying, and that's what that represented. So that's why I didn't support it. Let's talk a little bit about the concern. You're allowed to applaud if that's what you were trying to do. I think I heard someone go, oh, God, I shouldn't be sitting on my hands. You can applaud. This is your show, my friends. But, Lieutenant Governor, I do want to talk to you a little bit about, look, there's a lot of Republicans in this group who I've talked to as we were in our social hour. And I heard from three different ones, three different Republicans that looked at me, square in the eye and said, group. I hope that when you talk to Lieutenant Governor, you can point out in the mood and the tone of the question is essentially, what's wrong with doubting elections and the integrity of the election? It's one thing to be a denier, but to doubt some of the results of the way things are done, as soon as you do that, you're thought of as this extremist. Is that a problem in your eyes, that people can't even doubt their own democracy? I'm worried about where the doubt comes from and what creates the conditions for people to have that perspective. We have seen President Trump create an entire movement around election denialism and have that poison people's perspective, which leads to some of that doubt. I don't mind people asking questions, and I don't mind people wanting systems to improve. Again, I'm an engineer. I believe that a system can always be made to work better and be more responsive and be more effective. And I think one of the ways we can address those doubts is by being transparent and clear. That's why I'll give you a concrete example. So one of the places where the conspiracy theories about election results festers is because so many people don't understand what happens to ballots after they're cast. After you put your absentee ballot in the mail, where does it go and who processes it? After you put your ballot into the tabulator, if you go vote in person, what happens to it and where it goes? so I have an idea to deal with that information problem like many of y'all have seen at some point in your life that like old school Schoolhouse Rock video like how a bill becomes a law it was like real life social studies that taught people how the government works well I want to do something similar but for how a ballot becomes a vote once it is cast what happens who sees it who touches it where does it go tell that story in an accessible way because people can trust what they can see But right now, enough people don't have access and understanding and eyes on that process, and I think that's what leads to the doubt. So I want to address that problem and those questions, but what I will not tolerate is for public officials to knowingly deny the quality of a system that has been proven time and time again through dozens of lawsuits, through dozens of audits, through a full deep-dive investigation from the Republican-led State Senate Elections Committee that our results in Michigan continue to be fair and accurate and secure. Now, that's the kind of, and those are the results of the election workers who do the work in the most decentralized election system in this country. 1,300 local and county clerks across the state. The people who work your elections, the people who process your absentee ballots, those are your friends and neighbors and the people who are picking up their kids at the same time you are. They are honest and trying to do the right thing, and we should respect them and protect them and not let these conspiracy theories fester, which leads to threats. And you're absolutely correct. I've looked into it. I've done the homework. I've done the research. There have been Republican legislative bodies in the state of Michigan post-election that have said there's no widespread voter fraud, although there are irregularities, which will happen in any given system. But about those irregularities, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask. The non-citizens that we know did vote, of course, they're being held to account, and the Secretary of State's office has been clear about that. Does that bother you, and is that just part of what happens in terms of irregularities, or does that bother you? First of all, to be clear, it is illegal for people who are not citizens to vote right it always has been it is today and it always will be it will continue to be if i'm the secretary of state of michigan and people who are not citizens who attempt to vote they are held accountable and the accountability goes all the way up to including potentially being deported from this country there is a high price to pay for trying to be a person who's not a citizen and voting so we need to make sure that those systems continue in place the good news is that we have laws that protect that and we go after those bad actors if they try to do so this is also a vanishingly rare phenomenon. Let me be very clear about that. We're talking about five out of millions of votes. I think it was like 0.000000. I think it was like eight zeros and whatever you just said. No, I got it. It's a very rare occurrence. Instead, what I think is the bigger concern of the people of Michigan, and frankly, I think will be better for this democracy if we focused on making sure that every eligible Michigander was able to cast a ballot with confidence right now we're still seeing voter turnout that's in the 60 plus percent range we have some educators in the room if a kid got a 62 in your class the thing you're going to tell them is I'll see you next year because they failed sure then we can have our democracy however get a passing grade and make sure that we don't stand for anyone who wants to stand in the way of making it easier for eligible Michiganders to cast ballots like the people of Michigan chose to do that. In 2018, when we enabled no-excuse absentee voting. In 2022, when we enabled people to vote early in person starting at least nine days before election day. We have decided in Michigan that we want more eligible Michiganders to cast ballots, and that's a good thing because the people of Michigan want everyone to participate in this democracy. That's why it's critical that the Secretary of State therefore protects the way that the people of Michigan choose to vote. We saw a threat to voting by mail come directly from the president and the federal government. Voting by mail, which more than half of the people of Michigan have chosen to exercise. We need to make sure that is protected. The Postal Service doesn't get to determine who gets ballots. The United States Constitution gives that authority to the people of the state of Michigan. And as Secretary of State, I will stand tall against anyone who's going to threaten that. And that stands in stark contrast to my opponent who said nothing about it and would open the door and let Trump do whatever the hell he wanted to how we vote. That's unacceptable. I do, and we should point out President Trump himself, yeah, voted by mail on the most recent election as well in Florida. Okay, I want to talk about the SAVE Act, which the voter ID laws, right? Where do you stand on that? You have to have a voter ID. You have to have an ID to be able to vote in Michigan. Where do you stand on that? You have to have an ID to vote in Michigan. Yeah, but what do you think about the SAVE Act that requires that kind of, that extra paperwork that may have to be done? It is yet another example of trying to focus on how politicians can pick voters rather than how voters can pick their politicians. Look, in Michigan, you already got to show an ID to vote. And if you don't have one, when you go to vote, you can vote on something called a provisional ballot that is not eligible to be counted until after you prove who you are. This is already the law. We don't need new laws to fix a problem that is not a problem. But this is, instead, a distraction. But the problem with the Save America Act is it would make it significantly more difficult for people in rural communities to vote because the Save America Act had a lot of provisions that attacked mail-in voting. It would also have made it significantly more difficult for a lot of women who are married and chose to change their names to vote. Like, why is it that all of a sudden my grandmother, who's been an eligible Michigander since she came to the state of Michigan in the 50s, now have to go dig up a birth certificate from central Alabama from the 30s where she was born on a farm? She never got one because who was going to bring it to her on a farm in Union Springs, Alabama? But she's demonstrated who she is, and she has been able to vote legally and legitimately in this country and in this state and in our communities for years and years and years. But if you have been voting already as a woman in this country who's been married and didn't have a name change, you can still go vote, right? This is the problem with the Save America Act is it would have required them to all of a sudden find this type of information. And a lot of people don't have it. A lot of people don't have birth certificates. A lot of people don't have—most people don't have passports. A lot of people do not have that kind of documentation and would have to pay money to get it. That is a barrier that would stand between people who are eligible to vote and casting ballots. Again, my job as the guardian of democracy in Michigan, as the person who wants the will of the voters of Michigan to be reflected in our communities and in our election results, my job is to make sure that no barrier is built that can prevent them from exercising their constitutional right. And that's exactly what I'll do, and I'll stand against any adversary who stands against that. You talk about barriers. One of the barriers I've been hearing about talking to members of the community are some who have just come to this country or are elderly or perhaps speak a second language. They wonder what will be done in the future for the Secretary of State's office to make it so that it's easier to do all the work that needs to be done. What would you propose? So let's talk about language access. So I think that if you do not have a ballot in front of you that you can read and understand in your language, your civil rights have been violated. I think it is imperative that here in the state of Michigan, we make sure everyone can vote on a ballot that they understand. So I will stand for that, and that's part of a legislative package in Michigan called the Michigan Voting Rights Act. It has an entire section devoted to language access and making sure that those resources are provided for the people of Michigan across every community. That also, frankly, goes for people who are differently abled and have different kinds of challenges with their mobility and modality. They need to be able to vote on those voter assistance technology machines that serve voters with disabilities. And right now we have seen the uneven availability or implementation of those machines. And again, if you cannot, if you don't have a machine that you can use, that is also a violation of civil rights that I won't stand for as Secretary of State of Michigan. Again, I hope you're hearing a theme here. My job is to make sure that you have full access to your rights. You have full access to this process as an eligible Michigander. And I think the Secretary of State must be committed to that, must be creative in making sure that happens. It must be aggressive in standing against anyone who will try to fight it. One last question for you before we go here. I wanted to ask you about the tone. I do find it noteworthy and admirable that you and your opponent have, for the most part, kept things pretty clean, right? I mean, you go after each other for policy. Do you think the Secretary of State candidates could teach a thing or two to the other candidates running for office about how to do it the right way? You can applaud, by the way. I heard you clapping. But what do you think? I mean, that is the thing, right? I mean, you talk about the future. Kids are watching us right now, right? To me, the most important component of my campaign for Secretary of State, and what I want everyone who is attempting to serve the people of Michigan to understand, is that in order to serve people, you have to respect them enough to go see them. You have to listen to them. You have to show up for them. Y'all, Michigan is a big, beautiful state. We have two peninsulas and 83 counties and 10 million people. I've been to all 83 of those counties more than three times, showing up and standing with and sitting with people and listening to them, understanding what's important to them, what they need and want to make happen in their communities, and then understanding what I can do with the tools that the voters of Michigan have given me to make that thing happen for and alongside them. So I want everyone to understand that in order to do these jobs well, You cannot be afraid of people. You cannot be afraid of their voice. You cannot be afraid of their contributions to our present or to our future. That's the kind of campaign that I am running. That is the kind of service that I will render. And it makes sense for the Office of Secretary of State. Like I said, everybody has to deal with it. There are 131 Secretary of State branch offices in this state, at least one in every county, and everybody got to go through one at some point. So you might as well have a Secretary of State who sees you, supports you, respects your time, wants your voice to be heard, and wants you to get the kind of service that we deserve as Michiganders. And I think a lot of campaigns can learn from that. My birthday is coming up in four days. I've got to go renew my license. I'll let you know how it goes. You and your opponent. I'll call you both. I'll let you know. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Lieutenant Governor Garland Gilchrist. And thank you very much. Please welcome onto the stage again the CEO of the chamber, Martin Manna. Thank you for having me, by the way.