Governor-elect Jocelyn Benson wants 'quick relief' from affordability crisis

Jocelyn Benson, thank you all. And thank you, Lieutenant Governor-Elect Winnie Brinks. Good morning. Thank you all for being here today. I know it was a long night and an extraordinary night, quite frankly, for our democracy in this moment. Last night, Michiganders came together across geographic, racial, partisan lines around the issues that matter most to families. And today we get to work delivering for them. I also want to start by thanking the people of Michigan. We saw record-breaking turnout in this midterm election. Voters elected Democrats up and down the ticket, not because they like the shade of blue, but maybe they do, but also because they are calling... Out for leaders who will get things done, who will work to lower our costs and raise our wages and end corruption. I will be proud as the next governor of this state to lead that charge and get transformational things done for our state and for every person. I just met this morning with Governor Whitmer. I thanked her for her leadership, for her friendship. And for her service to the people of Michigan, not just over the last eight years, but throughout her career in public service. I'm very proud that with her and in partnership with her, you can expect to see a smooth transition, a professional transition. She is our governor until January 1st, and I'm grateful for her partnership as we work together to prepare for the next era of this state. To Winnie Brinks, our next lieutenant governor, I want to thank you for joining me in this fight. Together, we made history as the first all-female ticket in Michigan, and together, we will deliver on our commitment to make life more affordable for all. I also want to thank my wonderful team, who worked for months and years and countless hours behind the scenes and made this victory possible. From every roundtable to every meet and greet to every door knocked and every phone call made, every sleepless night, every last-minute scramble, we got it done, folks, and I'm grateful for you and all that you gave to this effort and to the people of Michigan. Thank you. I love you guys. Last night, the voters spoke. They gave us a historic majority in the State House and the State Senate. We elected Democrats at every level and in areas of the state that we didn't realize we could win. But here we are. We have won areas and districts because organizers and volunteers worked hard to ensure that the contrast between candidates in every race was clear. And indeed, Michiganders elected leaders who will work for the people, not the powerful, wealthy, and well-connected, who will work for the citizens and not Donald Trump. Michiganders have given us a clear mandate to work for them, to lower costs, to grow our economy, to improve our public schools, and get things done. And we will meet that mandate working hand in hand with our legislative leaders and everyone in the legislature on both sides of the aisle, frankly, from day one, because we want to implement a vision for Michigan that includes everyone, where the people who work hard can afford to build a life here, and where a young person can start a career in the community they grow up in, where families can count on a government that shows up when they need it and gets out of the way when they don't, and that works always for them. We are prioritizing them over anyone who would try to raise their costs for profit-driven reasons or otherwise stop their growth. That's what this campaign is about. That's what we are working towards, a Michigan that truly is the best place in the nation to call home. And our transition will begin immediately. Today, we will begin identifying where we can deliver quick relief in the early days of our new term, beginning with the bills families feel every month. We will work with experts. Community leaders and people who know what's broken and how to work with us to fix it. Together, we will deliver on our plans to create well-paying jobs in the state, strengthen Michigan's workforce, and make sure every kid is college or career ready when they graduate any public school in the state, no matter the zip code. We will transform state government to make it efficient and effective and ensure from health care to housing to child care to our energy costs that those costs are affordable for everyone. And we will work to ensure that the The rights and the safety of every Michigander is our top priority. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Higher wages and a government that works for everyone. That was the theme of our campaign, and it will be the guiding light of our administration. So I wanna thank again the people of Michigan and want them to know that I will work with anyone, always. to deliver for them and get things done and make everyone's life easier and I will also fight for the people of Michigan and for this entire state that I love, no matter what and no matter who you are or where you live or who you worship or who you voted for, I want you to know that you have a place in our vision, in our Michigan, and in our future. And we will work together to make sure that everyone has a chance to thrive. Now, there are many decisions ahead that we'll be sharing more in the coming weeks about and more about our transition team and leadership later today. But for now, I just want to say thank you. We're ready to get to work, and we're ready to do transformational things for this state and for the people of Michigan. Thanks. Oh, can I? Come here. You want to give me a hug? You're my girl. Thank you. This is not my daughter. Her name's... Go ahead. You want to say your name? Go ahead. What's your name? Okay. All right. I will say something you saw on stage last night with us. Go back to your... This is my political director, Kyle Stoddard, and something that's really important to me as we begin this moment. You saw a lot of kids on stage with us last night. Kids and their future will be a central part of my vision for our state as a mom and as someone who knows that everything we do over the next eight years is going to define their childhood and it's going to define their future. And so you will continue to see us amplifying the needs for our young people in the state, making sure they are protected, safe, and above all, have an opportunity to thrive in whatever they want to do. So with that, happy to take your questions. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Well, look, I'm governor-elect right now, not the governor. So on day one, once I'm sworn in as the next governor of Michigan, we will voluntarily make the governor's office open to FOIA. And we are looking right now about what that will look like, based on the fact that we've got plenty of examples in other states to craft our policies by, and we'll release those specific policies in the weeks ahead. But they will begin with my administration on January 1st. Yeah, I think one of the beautiful things we saw across the nation last night and certainly across the state of Michigan was how many people in every county representing demographics across the spectrum, across the racial spectrum, economic spectrum, political spectrum, stepping up to make their voices heard. And that's not lost on me because I believe strongly no one party, no one perspective has all the right answers, but together we can. Find the best way forward by collaborating and I think we do have an historic trifecta that we're excited about because I'm going to Lansing not to play political games but to get things done and I believe with this trifecta you will see a number of leaders committed to that but in addition to that every voice will have a place around our table, every perspective wanted and needed because we know the best way to chart our path forward and do transformational things is to listen and uplift every voice, make sure everyone has a seat at our table and everyone is heard as we collaboratively develop our path forward together. Winnie Grintz, you're still the Senate Majority Leader right now. You all were successful. Is there a point in even having a running duck still? I mean, are you going to meet with Speaker Hall before the end of 2026? Yeah, there's certainly room for conversation there. I'm certainly open to it. There are things that we could get done this term, so we'll see what's possible. Like with any legislature, you can only do what's possible with the people that you have at the moment in history that you find yourself. So I'm certainly open to it, and I think that we could have a productive end of this session if everybody is interested in doing that. As you know, it takes... Not just two chambers and two leaders. It takes members as well. So we'll see what's possible. I can't speak to that at this point. But, you know, the world changed a lot yesterday. So that may have an impact on what is possible. So I'm not going to get ahead of myself on that. Like Shannon, not necessarily your race, but the toxicity that has existed in some of the races brings people into the fold to get things done, et cetera. With all due respect, a lot of things in politics I've heard before, in many ways the pressure now begins to take the mandate you've been given and effectively get things done. So I'm interested in your thought on that moment in time, in addition to whether it's tariffs, maybe it's UIA relief. Are there priorities you can give us, two or three, that you'd like to go after right away and show people we want to effect change? Yes. And you'll hear more on our plans for our first 100 days in the weeks ahead. But I'll say three things at the outset. Number one, unity is important to me. I love the state of Michigan. I actually talked with Congressman James this morning about just this. When he called to concede, we talked about the future and the fact that we both love this state. And as I said earlier, I believe there's a seat for everyone in working to ensure if they want to work in good faith with data-driven and a solution-oriented focus, that we can work together to get things done. And that's That's always been who I've been. Secretary of State, it is who I'll be as governor, working collaboratively to involve everyone who loves this state and trying to drive us forward. But the second thing I'll say is that voters in Michigan spoke loud and clear. They want leaders who will work together to lower their cost and grow our economy. That is my focus, as well as improving our public schools. And so you can expect to see some specific things that we're going to start working on that we'll be able to announce more in the weeks ahead that hopefully will enable us to hit the ground running. But as But as I said earlier, I know that the Costs hitting people's pocketbooks hurt monthly. We cannot wait to get things done. We cannot wait to move the needle. So one of the things that this transition period will be our opportunity to explore are exactly what those immediate things we can do come at the beginning of our term in January to start providing relief. And the third thing I'll say is to reemphasize, I will work with anyone. To provide relief for the people of Michigan, including President Trump and the federal government. If we can work together to protect the people of Michigan from the harm that these tariffs have caused, I would love to, and I'm open to that. Because what we need to do right now... across this nation, across this state, is work together to make people's lives better. And anyone who wants to work with me in good faith to get that done, I don't care who gets the credit. I just want those costs to go down. Same when it comes to bringing more well-paying jobs to the state. We need to work aggressively to recruit those employers. And we'll be working not just with Governor Whitmer, but in the months ahead, I hope, in my administration as well, to bring new jobs and employers to Michigan. But the last thing I want to say, the third The third thing I want to say is this. I know a lot of what we talk about on the campaign trail is policies and vision. But to me, governing Michigan is also about setting a tone for who we're going to be as leaders, not just because I know the young people of our state and our nation are looking to us, but also because I know the toxicity that politics has embedded in our politics has gotten far too much. From, obviously, the threats to political violence, but even just the rhetoric and the words, I think the people of Michigan and our nation also rejected that hateful rhetoric in this election. And so I intend to be a governor that lives by that value as well and ensures that we are here, as I often say, being brave and kind. Getting things done, being aggressive and transformational, but also being respectful to each other and recognizing at the end of the day we all love the state, we all want to work together and we want to set that example for our kids. Thank you. There were some priorities for the Democrats that were left on the table. How are you going to ensure that as president of the The caucuses stay together, and you can actually finish all the priorities that you want to get before. Yeah, we'll certainly work very closely with the new caucus leadership after that is decided, likely tomorrow. We will establish positive relationships with as many members of the legislature as possible on both sides of the aisle, and we'll just see what we have in common in terms of an agenda and prioritize that as is consistent with the vision that the governor-elect has laid out. So I would say this, each term is very different. with different personalities, different members, different leadership, different I think it's different. governor in some cases and so we will continue to just establish those relationships, get down to what's most important to the people of Michigan and see what we can get done. You expressed an openness to suspending the state gas tax, and considering high gas prices were of such import to voters around the state and nation, how do you balance the need for funding infrastructure repairs around the state with trying to bring some relief to drivers? I very much want to explore ways to bring relief to our drivers. I think some sort of partnership maybe even with a reduction of the federal and the state gas tax can help provide that relief, and I want to explore that in the weeks ahead. But broader, we need to think about how to restructure our budget process so that we are identifying new sources of revenue that can help. pay our bills in the state, but also streamlining how things are spent so that we're reducing costs as well. So that's also going to be some of the work over these weeks ahead, to look at the budget process and identify new ways to bring in revenue, new ways to streamline how money is spent, and in particular, knowing the commitments we have to ensure infrastructure needs are met. But also the commitments that we want to grow for our state, like improving public education and the like. An example of that is how I don't want to just simply invest more in public schools. I want to restructure our funding formula so that the funding is more effective, efficient, and transparent. That is what we'll be looking at across the board so that we can find and turn over every stone and look at every way we can possibly make some changes to provide relief to the residents of our state. But yes, the relief of the state. State gas tax is one of the things that's on the table for something I'd like to explore.