LANSING, MI — Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II announced his campaign for Secretary of State today, pivoting from his suspended gubernatorial bid to focus on protecting voting rights and modernizing state services.
In a video announcement, Gilchrist said he is ending his campaign for governor but remains committed to public service in a different capacity.
"At heart, I'm a public servant, an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband, and an engineer who spent a lot of my life making government actually work for people," Gilchrist said. "I'm not done with that, not by a long shot."
The lieutenant governor framed his new campaign around defending democracy and protecting voter privacy, particularly against what he described as threats from the Trump administration.
"As Secretary of State, I will shine a light on dark money and put the public first," Gilchrist said. "I will modernize licensing and registration by providing smart, 21st-century service. I'll protect your privacy and never allow your identity, voter registration information, or license plate data to be mined by big tech companies or surveilled by the Trump administration."
Gilchrist emphasized Michigan's role as "ground zero in the battle for free and fair elections" and criticized what he called a "tangled web of corruption and control" designed to limit public participation in democracy.
Working alongside Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Gilchrist has helped deliver free pre-K for all Michigan children, increased small business success, protected abortion access, and connected tens of thousands of residents to reliable internet service.
As the country's only statewide elected software engineer, Gilchrist has focused on making government technology work more effectively for citizens. He previously served as Detroit's Director of Innovation, where he created the Improve Detroit smartphone app to help residents report local issues.
Before entering politics, Gilchrist worked at Microsoft as a software engineer and helped build SharePoint into one of the company's fastest-growing products. He also ran an unsuccessful campaign for Detroit City Clerk.
Gilchrist is the highest-ranking Black elected official in Michigan history. He lives in Detroit with his wife Ellen and their three children: twins Emily and Garlin III, and daughter Ruby.
The Secretary of State position oversees elections, driver licensing, and vehicle registration in Michigan.
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