The FOX 2 Democratic Gubernatorial Debate

FOX 2 - The Democratic Gubernatorial Debate on FOX 2 was held before a live studio audience – and we're taking a look at the biggest issues our state is facing.

Dig deeper:

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson was in attendance. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said she will miss it for a Detroit educators' event, despite being told 65 days ago. 

If she changed her mind, a chair was left open. See Benson's response as to why she missed tonight's event below.

We tackled questions about data centers in Michigan, the state of education and looking at outgoing Governor Gretchen Whitmer's policies. What were her accomplishments – and where she fell short.

We also took questions from our online audience and those in attendance.

Swanson faced questions about protecting seniors from elder abuse, energy costs, fixing the roads, and more.

The other side:

FOX 2 caught up with the Secretary of State at a Detroit educators event Thursday night.

She explained that she has taken part in forums she considers debates and said she looks forward to advancing out of the primaries to debate the GOP representative in the future.

"You know, I love debates," she said. "That's why I've done three of them in this primary. We did one at MEA (Michigan Educators Association), we did one with UAW, we did a forum on gun violence. So we've had plenty of debates, plenty of conversations. 

"And I look forward to having more of them this fall when we know who's going to be joining me on the other side of the primary."

FOX 2: "So those weren't forums?"

"Well, you can … they were live streamed debates where we had an opportunity to take tough questions and answer tough questions and I appreciate the opportunity to do that," she said. "I wish we could do every debate that was offered to us, but we'll certainly be doing more this fall."

Politics