Former Republican attorney general Mike Cox joins race to replace Whitmer as governor

MICHIGAN—Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox on Tuesday entered the 2026 governor’s race, adding to a growing field of Republicans vying to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Cox served as attorney general from 2003 to 2011. He launched a gubernatorial bid near the end of his second term, eventually coming in third in the Republican primary.

Cox is hoping for a different outcome this time around, launching a bid Tuesday that he said will “Make Michigan Great Again.”

“I’ve protected people my entire life, fought and beat the worst of the worst,” Cox said in a campaign video announcing his run. “Let’s not stand by and let radical politicians or woke bureaucrats undermine us any longer.”

Cox joins Michigan Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt and US Rep. John James in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II are facing off, with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan—formerly a Democrat—running as an independent.

Republicans are aiming to retake the governor’s office after eight years under Whitmer, who held full Democratic control of the Legislature from 2022 to 2024 and swiftly advanced her party’s agenda. The GOP regained the state House in 2024, but both legislative chambers will be up for grabs next year.

Cox served as a US Marine Corps infantry rifleman before becoming a prosecutor, according to his campaign website. He defeated now-US Sen. Gary Peters in 2002 to become the state’s first Republican attorney general in over 40 years.