For Immediate Release: October 23, 2018
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice America today announced its endorsement of Jocelyn Benson for Michigan Secretary of State.
“Jocelyn Benson understands just how vital it is to protect reproductive rights in these troubling times, and that’s why we are so excited to endorse her for Michigan Secretary of State” said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “Michigan residents deserve a leader who will champion the healthcare needs of women and families. Jocelyn Benson will ensure a woman’s right to choose is protected and we look forward to electing her this November.”
“I believe Michigan citizens want and deserve a Secretary of State who will work as hard as they do, who will be prepared on day one to save them time, save them money, and protect their voice and their vote,” Benson said. “That is who I am and I am pleased that so many organizations like NARAL are choosing to support my candidacy.”
Benson is currently CEO and Executive Director of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), a national nonprofit. She serves on several national boards including the advisory board of iCivics, a non-profit founded by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and dedicated to engaging students in meaningful civic learning. Benson has more than a decade of experience as a national leader in election law and administration. As the former dean of Wayne State University Law School she froze tuition, expanded access to scholarship funds for all students, and bolstered the school’s reputation and bar passage rates. In 2012 while her husband Ryan Friedrichs served in Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, she joined with four other military spouses to establish the Military Spouses of Michigan, a network dedicated to providing support and services to military spouses and their children.
NARAL’s political program for the 2018 general election is the organization’s largest ever midterm political program to advance candidates fighting for “our values, our future, our vote.” NARAL is investing in diverse candidates up and down the ballot in 19 states, mobilizing members and voters through mail, phones, digital ads, door to door canvassing, TV ads, and rallies that hold anti-choice candidates accountable and lift up pro-choice champions. To read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates, click here.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”