STRONG START

There’s a new player in the race for Secretary of State. Democrat Suzanna Shkreli of Birmingham, who until recently was the Michigan Lottery Commissioner as well as a former Director of Juvenile Justice Reform in DHHS, announced she is running to replace Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is term-limited and running for governor. Shkreli joins a crowded field, where she’ll tussle with Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, former state Senator Adam Hollier and Assistant Michigan Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie. Unlike other positions on the party slate, voters won’t choose the party standard-bearer – members of the Michigan Democratic Party convention will on April 19. But Shkreli had a huge launch, raising over $200,000 in the first 24 hours of her campaign, which should definitely have her competitors worried. Her campaign noted that it “is the most any Secretary of State candidate has announced raising in 24 hours. By comparison, it’s more money than Democratic opponent Barb Byrum raised all year ($136,000) and nearly as much as Aghogho Edevbie reported in around eleven months ($228,000).” Right now, Republican Timothy Smith has the field to himself.

Suzanna Shkreli