This week on MichMash, gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II sat down with WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben to explain why he’s running for governor of Michigan and how his engineering background could help.

Plus, we take a look at fundraising progress from the rest of the gubernatorial candidates.

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In this episode:

• Why is Lt. Gov. Gilchrist running for governor?
• How much money have Michigan gubernatorial candidates raised so far?

Engineering change

Gilchrist graduated with two engineering degrees from the University of Michigan. Now as he runs to be the next governor of Michigan while still serving as lieutenant governor of Michigan, he views both jobs as serving the same purpose.

“I have one job, and that is to have as many conversations as possible with people across Michigan every single day … and then to take what they tell me and go make something happen,” he told MichMash. “People need a problem solver in office and that’s what I do as an engineer. I make systems work for people.”

Fundraising updates

All gubernatorial candidates, including Gilchrist, were required to report their first fundraising hauls this week. But despite this major milestone, the race is far from determined.

Democratic candidates include Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II. Benson has raised $3.5 million in the first six months of her campaign, Swanson has raised $1 million and Gilchrist has raised $750,000. 

While the Democratic field has appeared to settle, the Republican field seems more in flux. Former House Speaker Tom Leonard entered the race just a month ago, and a few weeks ago, 2022 Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Tudor Dixon announced she would not be running in 2026. Other candidates may still enter the race, and it’s possible that U.S. Rep. John James may back out of his gubernatorial bid amid pressure from President Donald Trump to maintain his congressional seat.

But for now, the main Republican candidates are Leonard, Senate Republican Leader Eric Nesbitt, James and former Attorney General Mike Cox. As the deadline to submit fundraising reports isn’t until 5 p.m. on Friday, we didn’t have all the data at the time this episode was recorded on Thursday afternoon. But we do know that Cox has raised $1.4 million and and that James moved $500,000 from his congressional committee to his gubernatorial committee earlier this month.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is also running for governor as an Independent, and his fundraising report had not yet been submitted at the time of this recording.