Ms. Benson, a Democrat, jumped into a high-profile and potentially crowded race to lead one of the country’s top battleground states.

Michigan's Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announces her candidacy for governor in a bid to replace Gretchen Whitmer.

The 47-year-old Democrat becomes the third major candidate to declare for the race to replace Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced in December that he would run as an independent and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt said earlier this month he would seek the Republican nomination.