Secretary of state race takes shape ahead of party conventions

(The Center Square) – As the midterm election season enters full swing, nearly a dozen major candidates are running to become Michigan’s next secretary of state.

Up until Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II announced he would be joining the race, Ingham County Clerk Barbara Byrum seemed to have the backing of the Democrat party establishment.

Gilchrist made the switch from running for governor to secretary of state in January – after struggling to take the lead in the race for governor.

“I’m a public servant, an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband, and an engineer who spent a lot of my life making the government actually work for people,” he said. “I’m not done with that, not by a long shot.”

Other Democrats in the race include former state Sen. Adam Hollier and lawyer Suzanna Shkreli, who gave TCS an exclusive interview about her campaign. As secretary of state, she said she would focus on modernizing Michigan’s ele...