07-02-2025
Genesee County Sheriff announces campaign for governor
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson is expected to formally announce his candidacy for governor Thursday at around 5:30 p.m., which you can watch live on this page.
A potential bid for governor has been in Swanson's orbit for . Current Governor Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election.
Although his team would not confirm his plans at the time, Swanson's planned announcement follows current announced bid last week. Additionally, current will run as an independent, and will be running for the Republican Party nomination. Former Attorney General Mike Cox, also a Republican, has also filed paperwork allowing him to run, although he has not announced a bid for the office just yet.
Swanson was first appointed sheriff in 2019 before winning the seat in 2020. He has been with the Genesee County Sheriff's Department—the fifth largest in the state—since 2011.
According to his biography, Swanson has almost three decades of law enforcement experience and in various positions including corrections, criminal investigations, human trafficking, and narcotics. He has both a bachelor's and master's degree in public administration from the University of Michigan.
The biography says that Swanson helped put together the Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team (G.H.O.S.T.) in 2018, which focuses on human trafficking and criminal sexual conduct. After becoming Sheriff in 2020, he also founded a program to allow inmates in Genesee County Jail to go to school two hours a day, five days a week to assist with finding employment after release called Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally through Education (I.G.N.I.T.E.).
Also in 2020, during a period of nationwide unrest in response to the killing of George Floyd, Swanson gained by taking off his helmet and joining a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in a march in Flint.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
