“It requires a governor who is willing to and ready to stand up to the President of the United States and use every legal tool in my toolbox.”
- Jocelyn Benson, at Tuesday’s debate with Republican John James, on what her approach would be to the Trump administration’s use of ICE to '“terrorize” communities.
The race for Michigan’s future started to take shape on the debate stage this week — including the decisions voters will make about the state’s constitution and its public institutions. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers traded accusations in their first televised U.S. Senate debate Thursday, while gubernatorial candidates Jocelyn Benson and John James clashed earlier in the week over affordability, tariffs and their approaches to the Trump administration.
We also examined the high stakes of a potential constitutional convention, where the possibilities for rewriting Michigan’s governing document come with significant concerns. And as the next governor prepares to take office, our reporting and commentary explored the mounting challenges inside Michigan’s prison system — and why fixing them has to move beyond mere rhetoric into actual policy.
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Jon King - Editor-in-Chief
YOUR TOP MICHIGAN ADVANCE STORIES OF THE WEEK
Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Mike Rogers, right, speaks during a televised debate with Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed, at WOOD-TV, on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, Pool)
By Ben Solis
GRAND RAPIDS — After months of circling each other on the campaign trail, former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed met face-to-face on Thursday for the first debate of the cycle in Michigan’s competitive U.S. Senate race.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, left, stands with with Rep. John James, R-Mich, Republican gubernatorial candidate during a televised debate on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, at WOOD-TV, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, Pool)
By Katherine Dailey
GRAND RAPIDS – The relationship between Michigan and the federal government — especially when it comes to the tariffs levied by the Trump administration — was central throughout the first general election debate of Michigan’s gubernatorial election between Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township) on Tuesday night.
The statue of former Gov. Austin Blair at the Michigan Capitol | Susan J. Demas
By Kyle Davidson
Every 16 years Michigan residents are presented with a ballot question on whether to call a constitutional convention, sometimes called a Con-Con. If a majority of voters say yes, it will initiate a process that begins with holding partisan elections to select delegates from each state House and Senate district for a total of 148 delegates. Once the delegates are selected, they will convene on the first Tuesday in October following the election where the convention is called. That would be Oct. 5, 2027.
Michigan Department of Corrections office in Lansing. (Photo by Jon King/Michigan Advance)
By Katherine Dailey
No matter who becomes governor in January, Michigan’s next administration will face a major corrections problem. Prison advocates and corrections union leadership might generally have very different perspectives on what changes are needed within the state’s prisons. But in conversations with the Michigan Advance, they agreed on one overarching sentiment — something has to change at the top of the Michigan Department of Corrections.
A protester outside the Michigan Department of Corrections headquarters in Lansing. July 31, 2026. | Photo by Katherine Dailey/Michigan Advance.
COMMENTARY
By Jon King
A prison system that cannot reliably provide basic programming, treatment, education and security is not only failing inmates. It is failing you and me.
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