If Jocelyn Benson isn't the most nervous politician in Michigan, then she's not reading the road signs very well.

The frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination should be in the pole position for the 2026 race. She's a popular and well-funded mainstream Democrat who has won two terms as secretary of state and enjoys high name recognition. She's also running in a midterm election that historically disadvantages the party in the White House. It looks like a golden opportunity for Democrats to capture a rare third term in the governor's office.

And yet scores of Democratic party officials are turning their backs on Benson and their own party and backing Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the former Democrat making an independent run for governor.

It's not that they don't like Benson.

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