LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – With the 2026 midterms approaching and the 2028 presidential race already looming large, Democrats are laying down early warnings of electoral doom.
Michigan Democratic Secretary of State (SOS) Jocelyn Benson, now campaigning to become the state’s next governor, recently sounded alarms about a potential “power grab” by the Trump administration – claims she says could jeopardize elections nationwide. Speaking during an online forum hosted by the States United Democracy Center this week, Benson called the Trump DOJ’s requests for access to voter files, including in Michigan, “unprecedented” and “federal overreach,” warning that such actions could expose sensitive voter data and erode trust in the election system.
Benson rings alarm on threats while critics say she’s missing the real danger.
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Benson also suggested during the online discussion that voter data might be exploited to prevent certain individuals or even entire communities from casting ballots, though she didn’t give details on that prophecy. While Michigan has reportedly shared nonsensitive data with federal officials – such as names and voting history – Michigan’s Democratic SOS has declined to release other details to the Trump administration from the Qualified Voter File (QVF), including driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers. The refusal has raised questions by some about whether the move shields information on voters who may not be legally eligible, such as noncitizens.
Lawsuit against Michigan filed.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed federal lawsuits against Michigan and five other states on Thursday because they failed to produce the statewide voter registration information previously requested. The lawsuit marks an escalation between Michigan and the federal government, with Benson flatly rejecting the DOJ’s demands in a press release saying, “I told them they can’t have it.”
Calling the request “not normal,” she pressed the department directly: “Why is this happening now? Why does the federal government want access to everyone’s personal information?”
This latest clash isn’t happening in a vacuum. For years, Benson cast herself as the last safeguard against supposed threats to ‘free and fair elections,’ even while ignoring real fixes – like cleaning up the voter rolls – that would actually protect election integrity.
Similar to earlier warnings about potential consequences of President Trump’s tax bill, Democrats are again forecasting serious harm from proposed changes. But repeated predictions of disaster before each election cycle risk losing their impact, sounding more like routine campaign messaging than credible warnings.
Meanwhile in California…
On the West Coast, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, widely assumed to be preparing a 2028 presidential run, brought his traveling presidential campaign to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night, telling the audience, “I fear that we will not have an election in 2028 – I really mean that in the core of my soul – unless we wake up to what’s happening in this country.”
The fear factory.
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What Benson and Newsom are peddling isn’t civic responsibility – it’s fear. They cast voters as helpless extras in a political horror film, with themselves as the heroes standing between democracy and destruction. Their formula is simple: if the other side wins, democracy dies; if they win, democracy is saved. It’s a script Democrats have leaned on since Donald J. Trump entered the political stage.
The problem with nonstop warnings of democracy’s collapse is that they eventually lose their punch. After years of being told each election is “the most important of our lifetimes,” it’s quite possible that voters are growing numb to their warnings. Benson hopes to cement her role as Michigan’s ballot savior, and Newsom is polishing his 2028 credentials – but by casting every contest as democracy’s final stand, they may be draining the very trust and turnout they claim to defend.
