Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announces run for governor

FOX 2 - A former Michigan attorney general has thrown his hat into the ring for the 2026 gubernatorial race. Mike Cox, who served as AG from 2003 to 2011, officially announced his run for governor on Tuesday.

Cox, a Republican, who is running to "Make Michigan Great Again" ran for governor in 2010 but placed third in the primary behind Rick Snyder and Congressman Pete Hoekstra.

"I’ve protected people my entire life, fought and beat the worst of the worst. Let’s not stand by and let radical politicians or woke bureaucrats undermine us any longer," Cox wrote on Facebook.

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Cox, 63, a former Marine, worked previously with both the Oakland County and Wayne County prosecutor's offices. He was term limited as attorney general.

"Bad politicians with worse ideas are destroying our Michigan, made it harder to work, harder to learn, made us less safe," he says in a campaign video. "I'm tired of being told we can't beat anyone, that we should accept less. Aren't you?"

His wife Laura Cox, is a former state representative and more recently, served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

Current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term limited with Democrat candidates Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson all running.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat, is running as an independent.

On the Republican side, Cox joins US Rep. John James, Republican Senate Leader Aric Nesbitt and Anthony Hudson, who ran for Congress last year.