Former state lawmaker Adam Hollier will run for Michigan Secretary of State, joining a growing group seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to replace Jocelyn Benson at the end of her second term next year.
A Democrat from Detroit, Hollier previously announced he would challenge U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, and run for his 13th Congressional District seat a third time in 2026. But Hollier, who was in the Michigan Senate from 2019 to 2022 and was Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s director of the state Veterans Affairs Agency in 2023, said in a Sept. 10 statement he pivoted to run for secretary of state due to what he called threats against democracy coming from President “Donald Trump and his MAGA allies.”
Former state Sen. Adam Hollier of Detroit.
“As your Secretary of State, I will lead the fight against any assaults on our fundamental freedoms, and will never back down in the face of these undemocratic and unconstitutional attacks,” Hollier said. He also touted his military service — Hollier is enlisted in the U.S. Army’s 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, a reserve unit, as a paratrooper, according to his Wayne State University staff biography.
Across the country and in Michigan, Democrats have characterized Trump as a threat to democracy for years. Trump won the popular vote in Michigan last year on his way back to the White House.
In his announcement, Hollier’s campaign said he would work to remove barriers to voting, boost voter turnout, make it easier to register to vote and cast a ballot early, although specific policy ideas weren’t provided.
Hollier, 39, previously launched unsuccessful Congressional campaigns in 2022 and 2024. In 2022, he finished second to Thanedar in a crowded primary in the 13th District, a heavily Democratic seat that covers parts of Detroit, several Downriver communities and most of the Grosse Pointe communities. Hollier again tried to challenge Thanedar in 2024 but didn’t make the primary ballot after failing to submit enough valid petition signatures.
With Hollier exiting the primary field in the 13th District, Thanedar’s current challengers include State Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, Nazmul Hassan of Hamtramck and Shelby Campbell of Detroit. Republican Andrew Lorenz, of Southgate, has also filed to run for the seat.
Hollier joins Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum and Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination to replace Benson next year. Due to Michigan’s term limit laws, Benson is prevented from running for a third term as secretary of state. She has launched a campaign for governor.
Party nominations for secretary of state are made at nominating conventions, rather than being determined by a statewide primary. Democratic and Republican Party delegates will select nominees at some point next year.
On the Republican side, Oakland County GOP delegate Monica Yatooma, Clarkston Community School District Board Trustee Amanda Love and Timothy Smith, of Muskegon County, are vying for the party’s nomination.
Secretary of state is Michigan’s top elections role. Along with overseeing elections statewide, the Michigan Department of State also handles things like driver’s license and state ID distribution, vehicle title registrations and renewals and more.
It’s one of several statewide positions up for election next year. Voters in Michigan will also elect a new governor and attorney general, and decide on races for the U.S. Senate and two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court during the November 2026 election.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Adam Hollier pivots, will run for Michigan Secretary of State
