Jocelyn Benson wins race for Michigan Secretary of State

(WJBK) - Democrat Jocelyn Benson has defeated Republican Mary Treder Lange for Secretary of State in Michigan.

With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Benson won with 53 percent of the vote to Lange's 44 percent.

Benson, 40, is the former Dean of Wayne State University's Law School and is the current CEO and executive director of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, a national nonprofit. 

It would be the first time either was elected to statewide office, which they wear as badges of honor: Benson said she doesn't "come at this as a government bureaucrat." Benson ran unsuccessfully for the office in 2010.

Benson has proposed expanding online services, and says nobody should have to wait more than 30 minutes to renew a driver's license, register a vehicle or vote.

She is the first Democrat to hold the post in more than two decades, has been endorsed by Chris Thomas, Michigan's election director for 36 years until retiring last year.

Current office-holder Ruth Johnson, a Republican, is term-limited and could not run again.