Who is Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan?

(NewsNation) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been a rising star in the Democratic Party for years. 

Now, as some are floating names to replace current President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 election following a heavily criticized performance at the first debate, Whitmer has often come up.

The Michigan governor recently commented on the possibility, saying she stands behind Biden as the party’s candidate.

“I am proud to support Joe Biden as our nominee and I am behind him 100% in the fight to defeat Donald Trump,” she said in her statement. “Not only do I believe Joe can win Michigan, I know he can because he’s got the receipts: he’s lowered health care costs, brought back manufacturing jobs, and is committed to restoring the reproductive freedom women lost under Donald Trump.”

In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the release of her new memoir, “True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between,” Whitmer reiterated that she would not consider running for president this year. Calling the speculation around her “a distraction,” she said she doesn’t like seeing her name in articles about Biden’s replacement.

“I’m totally focused on governing and campaigning for the ticket,” Whitmer told the AP.

There’s been speculation, though, about Whitmer emerging on a national stage beyond 2024, with some reports suggesting that she could be a presidential contender in 2028.

Here’s what you need to know about Whitmer:

• Gretchen Whitmer’s political views
• Whitmer’s controversies
• The plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
• Gretchen Whitmer’s personal life

Who is Gretchen Whitmer? 

Whitmer is a “lifelong Michigander” who signed over 1,250 bills during her two terms as governor, according to her website.

After graduating from Michigan State University and attending its law college, Whitmer entered private practice before being elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2000. Six years later, she became a state senator and eventually the Democratic leader. 

In 2018, she announced a run for governor that ended up being successful, with Whitmer winning all 83 counties in the primary and 53% of the vote over Republican Bill Schuette in the general election. NewsNation partner The Hill writes that her slogan was “Fix the Damn Roads,” putting a focus on the state’s infrastructure. After being governor for only a little over a year, Whitmer gave the 2020 Democratic response to the State of the Union.

Then, in 2022, Whitmer won a second term over GOP candidate Tudor Dixon. The Hill reported that 2022 election led to a Democratic majority in Michigan’s House and Senate, making it the first time in decades that the party had a “trifecta” of power in the state.

Gretchen Whitmer’s political views

Speaking to The New York Times in 2020, Whitmer described herself as a progressive Democrat. Whitmer is a staunch supporter of reproductive rights, closed major oil pipelines in Michigan and has approved a package of gun violence prevention bills following a school shooting.  

Abortion 

A staunch supporter of reproductive rights, Whitmer signed Proposal 3, which repealed the state’s 1931 law banning abortion without any exceptions and codified the right to the procedure in Michigan’s constitution. 

While the state senate minority leader, Whitmer gained national attention after making a speech in front of her colleagues denouncing a law that would have made people wanting an abortion buy additional insurance. During her remarks, The Huffington Post reported, Whitmer held back tears as she talked about being raped in college. 

“It was terrifying to think of opening myself up, of telling this room full of mostly men about being assaulted as a young woman,” she recalled in her memoir.

Environment

Whitmer, as governor, ordered two major oil pipelines that ran through the Straits of Mackinac to close, earning her the endorsement of the Sierra Club. She also created the first public advocate position for clean water and environmental justice in Michigan’s state government.

Guns

Following the February 2021 shooting at Oxford High School near Detroit, Whitmer approved a package of gun violence prevention bills, creating universal background checks for all firearms and mandating safe storage requirements around children.

Legislation allowing medical professionals, family members, guardians, current or former dating partners and police to petition a judge to take away an at-risk individual’s firearms was signed by Whitmer in 2023 and went into effect in February 2024, the Detroit Free Press wrote. 

Last year, Whitmer signed bills banning those convicted of domestic violence from buying, owning or transporting firearms for eight years after sentencing. Building on that, an executive order she signed this year establishes a Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. 

Immigration

The Detroit Free Press quoted Whitmer in April of this year as saying that federal border policy reform is needed, but it must acknowledge the economic impact generated by immigrants.

“I know that we’ve got to reform immigration in this country. There is no question about that,” she said. “And it’s important that we do it in a responsible way because our economy relies on immigration. That is the great strength of the history of our state and our country. And yet, the system that we now have is not working.”

According to the article, Whitmer also said that those entering the United States unlawfully should not receive state benefits.

Back in 2019, in her first term as governor, Whitmer canceled the sale of a former state prison for the construction of a $35 million immigration detention center. The Detroit Free Press wrote at the time this was because the private detention center operator could not guarantee that the facility wouldn’t be used to detain adults separated from their children.

Recent efforts by Biden to address the border have been applauded by Whitmer, such as an executive action he took to shut down asylum requests after daily crossings hit a certain limit. According to her office, Whitmer is the first Michigan governor to send National Guard personnel to assist officials along the southern border, and approved requests for their support from both Trump and Biden’s administrations. Past statements she’s made, though, criticized what she called Trump’s “hateful, discriminatory rhetoric” when it came to certain immigration issues.

Whitmer’s controversies

During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of Michigan residents protested Whitmer’s stay-at-home order, according to NPR, with one demonstration lasting for nearly seven hours.

Then-President Trump cheered on these protestors, at one point tweeting, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” 

NPR wrote that polls found people largely approved of Whitmer’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and Michigan went from the state with the third-largest number of COVID cases to the bottom third in October 2020. However, conservative critics took issue with Whitmer’s mandates, specifically her decision to extend a state of emergency without approval from the legislature. 

In 2021, a photo circulated on social media of Whitmer and a group of unmasked people at an East Lansing bar-restaurant despite the COVID guidelines, for which she apologized.

“Yesterday, I went with friends to a local restaurant. As more people arrived, the tables were pushed together,” she said at the time, according to The Detroit Free Press. “Because we were all vaccinated, we didn’t stop to think about it. In retrospect, I should have thought about it. I am human. I made a mistake, and I apologize.”

Whitmer talked about the incident in her book, though pointed out that another Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom of California, faced criticism for going to a Michelin three-star restaurant during the pandemic as well.

Plot to Kidnap Whitmer 

FBI investigators in October 2020 announced that 13 men were arrested in connection with a plan to kidnap the governor that involved months of planning and even training exercises.

Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap the governor in reaction to what they viewed as her “uncontrolled power,” according to a federal complaint. Another seven were charged under the state’s anti-terrorism laws for allegedly targeting police and the state Capitol.

Prosecutors said the men, angry over COVID-19 restrictions, were aiming to kidnap Whitmer at her family’s Northern Michigan vacation home and take her to Wisconsin for a “trial.”

Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., who authorities said were the leaders in this plot, were convicted at a second trial after a jury at the first trial couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. Fox was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Croft got almost 20 years of prison and five years of supervised release.

In “True Gretch,” Whitmer wrote that her daughters did not return to the private residence that the conspirators staked out during the kidnapping and assassination attempt. Her husband also closed his dental practice following threats.

“Nearly three years down the road, there’s no doubt that the apparent kidnapping and murder plot changed me,” she writes, according to the AP.

Whitmer’s Personal Life

Whitmer is married to Dr. Marc Mallory, a retired dentist. She has two daughters, three stepsons and two dogs. Rapper GMac Cash wrote a song about her called “Big Gretch.”

Whitmer’s memoir, published by Simon & Schuster, came out in July. Described by Simon & Schuster as “an unconventionally honest, personal and funny account” of Whitmer’s life and career, it details her life as governor as well as her days as a lawyer and legislator.

“I’ve spent the first quarter of this century watching as the arc of our politics has bent uncomfortably toward incivility and strife,” Whitmer wrote in the first pages of her book, according to the AP. “That’s why I decided to write this book: to put a little light out there in a damn dark time.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.