Gilchrist and Forlini debate experience and federal intervention at Michigan secretary of state debate

Candidates for Michigan secretary of state traded barbs Thursday night about who could be trusted more to oversee Michigan’s elections, campaign finance law, and residents’ private data. 

The debate was held in front of a live audience on the University of Michigan’s campus in Ann Arbor. Garlin Gilchrist II (D), the current lieutenant governor, is a former software developer. Anthony Forlini (R) is the clerk for Macomb County in the Detroit metropolitan area. 

Both candidates emphasized their experience, but disagreed on whether current processes were sufficient to protect voting rights and secure elections.

On election security

Gilchrist said Michigan’s elections were, are, and will continue to be secure and trustworthy. The lieutenant governor said voting needs to be more accessible for eligible voters. 

“That system has been proven to be secure,” he said. “Walls that stand between people and casting their ballots are walls that need to be broken down.”

Democrat Garlin Gilchrist II says the next Michigan secretary of state should make voting easier for eligible voters, not harder."Walls that stand between people and casting their ballots are walls that need to be broken down."

— Heartland Signal (@heartlandsignal.com) 2026-10-12T17:32:15.202774574Z

Forlini called for more transparency from the Secretary of State’s Office and promised to start preparing for the 2028 election on his first day in office. 

As Macomb County clerk, Forlini has used the expanded SAVE database to identify alleged non-citizens who are registered to vote. He also released a report claiming to have found 15 noncitizens who had voted in a separate audit. But that audit was based on flawed data, according to Votebeat. 

Gilchrist said the audit fed into misinformation about election security. 

“We don’t need to have our officials placating and feeding conspiracy theories,” he said.

On citizen ballot initiatives

The candidates also weighed in on Michigan’s ballot initiative process. A Michigan House committee is currently reviewing the process after a ballot measure from Americans for Citizen Voting failed to make the November ballot. Michigan’s Board of Canvassers deadlocked after members disagreed about whether some of the signatures gathered were valid. 

Forlini said the current process sows distrust among voters and disenfranchises them.

“How [election officials are] looking at these signatures, it is not transparent at all,” he said. 

Gilchrist defended the current process. 

“If you mess up the signature gathering process, then you need to do it better,” he said. “That doesn’t mean the process is broken, that means that somebody didn’t get something right.”

On the Trump administration

Gilchrist emphasized that the next secretary of state needed to be “vigilant” and ready to stand up to federal overreach. 

“There are important challenges that the state of Michigan’s Secretary of State will face in the coming years,” he said. That could include demands from the Trump administration to hand over the state’s voter rolls or other private, sensitive information, Gilchrist said. 

@garlingilchrist.bsky.social, a Dem nominee for Michigan secretary of state, promises to protect Michigan voters from Trump.“That is my responsibility … to make sure that no entity can come at the people of Michigan without going through first the secretary of state, where I'll protect them.”

— Heartland Signal (@heartlandsignal.com) 2026-10-12T17:31:39.260730329Z

Forlini said he was not afraid of the Trump administration. 

“I don’t fear any of that because I know who the boss is,” he said. “I’m the leader of my community.”

The full debate is available to watch on the university’s YouTube. The next Michigan election debate will feature gubernatorial candidates Jocelyn Benson (D) and John James (R) on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.