Gretchen Whitmer
Gretchen Esther Whitmer is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A Democrat, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.
Whitmer was born and raised in Michigan. She graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in communication in 1993 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1998. Her political career began in 2000 when she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. In 2006, she won a special election to the state senate, serving in that chamber until 2015, and became its first female Democratic leader from 2011 to 2015. In 2013, Whitmer gained national attention for a floor speech during a debate on abortion in which she shared her experience of being sexually assaulted. For six months in 2016, she was the prosecutor for Ingham County. Whitmer was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Bill Schuette, the state attorney general.
As governor, she has focused on healthcare and infrastructure legislation. In February 2020, she was selected to give the Democratic response to then president Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union Address. In October 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation thwarted a far-right militia group's kidnapping plot against Whitmer. From January 2021 to February 2025, Whitmer served as one of the vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee. She was reelected as governor in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Tudor Dixon.
Early life and education
Gretchen Esther Whitmer was born on August 23, 1971, in Lansing, Michigan, the eldest of three children of Sharon H. "Sherry" Reisig and Richard Whitmer, who were both attorneys. Her father was head of the Michigan department of commerce under Governor William Milliken, a Republican, and the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan from 1988 to 2006. Her mother worked as an assistant attorney general under Michigan Attorney General, Frank J. Kelley.Whitmer's parents divorced when she was ten years old, after which she and her siblings moved with their mother to Grand Rapids; her father traveled from his home in Detroit to visit the family at least once a week. Her family was affiliated with the Christian Church, and she attended a Christian summer camp in West Virginia for several summers; during one such summer, she was injured during a game of tag, losing both of her front teeth. From 1985 to 1989, she attended Forest Hills Central High School near Grand Rapids, participating in the school's softball and track and field teams. During her time at Forest Hills, Whitmer became intoxicated before a football game, leading her to briefly pass out and vomit on the school principal, Bert Bleke. Whitmer said that she "got it together" after that incident and was eventually awarded most improved student of 1987 at her school.
After graduating from high school, Whitmer enrolled at Michigan State University to study communication, with the intent of becoming a broadcaster for ESPN. She graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in communication. While an undergraduate, Whitmer interned with then State Representative Curtis Hertel, which convinced her to study law. She attended the Michigan State University College of Law, where she was a member of the Michigan State Law Review. She graduated in 1998 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude. She then entered private practice in the Lansing office of the Detroit law firm Dickinson Wright.
In 1999, Whitmer was elected chair of the East Lansing Transportation Commission.
Michigan Legislature
House of Representatives
In 2000, Whitmer ran for the Michigan House of Representatives' 70th district to succeed representative Laura Baird. After winning the Democratic primary against Mary Lindemann, John Schlinker, and Bob McCann, she ran against Republican nominee Bill Hollister. She campaigned on education and healthcare reform and environmental protections. Whitmer won the election, receiving 17,409 total votes. She was reelected to the 69th House district in 2002 and 2004 and served as vice chair of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee.In 2003, Whitmer introduced a bill in the Michigan House that would raise taxes on alcohol and improve fire protection in the state, a proposition that earned the attention and support of then-governor Jennifer Granholm. In 2005, Whitmer was voted Most Effective Democrat of the Michigan House.
Senate
In March 2006, Whitmer won a special election to the Michigan State Senate, replacing Virg Bernero, who had been elected mayor of Lansing in November 2005. She was elected to a full term in November, and reelected in 2010. In 2011, Whitmer's Democratic colleagues unanimously chose her to be the Senate Democratic Leader, making her the first woman to lead a party caucus in the Senate. Due to term limits, Whitmer was unable to run for reelection in 2014 and left office in 2015.In 2013, Whitmer received national recognition when she revealed that she had been the victim of rape during her freshman year at Michigan State University. She told her story during a debate about abortion rights, while making the case that victims of rape should be allowed to terminate pregnancies that result from the assault.
Ingham County prosecutor
On May 11, 2016, it was announced that the judges of Michigan's 30th Judicial Circuit Court had unanimously selected Whitmer to serve the remaining six months of outgoing Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III's term. Dunnings resigned, effective July 2, 2016, after being charged with misconduct in office and with prostitution-related offenses; he subsequently pleaded guilty to several counts and was sentenced to one year in jail and two years' probation.On June 21, 2016, Whitmer was administered the oath of office as prosecutor by Ingham County Circuit Court Chief Judge Janelle Lawless. She said her top priorities during her six months of service would be to determine if any other officials in the prosecutor's office knew about Dunnings's alleged crimes and to change how the office handled domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
In July 2016, Whitmer issued an 11-page report on whether Dunnings's offenses had affected cases the office handled. The report concluded that employees "were never asked to compromise a case or look the other way" and that she had "full confidence that any problem that had existed in this office left with Mr. Dunnings". Whitmer's term expired on December 31, 2016.
Governorship
Elections
2018
On January 3, 2017, Whitmer announced she would run in the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial race. In the August 2018 primary, Whitmer became the Democratic nominee, winning 52% of the vote and defeating Abdul El-Sayed, who took 30%, and Shri Thanedar, who took 17%.While campaigning in 2018, Whitmer said that, if elected, she would focus on improving Michigan's "fundamentals"; she named schools, roads, and water systems as priorities. Whitmer's main opponent was Republican Bill Schuette, the term-limited attorney general of Michigan. The two candidates debated twice.
Whitmer defeated Schuette in the November 6 election by nearly a 10-point margin.
2022
Whitmer was reelected to a second term in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Tudor Dixon. She won by nearly 11 points, a larger margin than many analysts and election watchers predicted, with polling showing a tightening race in the weeks before election day in what was expected to be a tough midterm election for Democrats in battleground states like Michigan. Whitmer won 18 counties and expanded her margins in several vote-rich, bellwether areas of the state, including Oakland, Macomb, and Kent Counties.Tenure
Whitmer describes herself as a progressive Democrat, who can work with state legislators from different political perspectives.As both a gubernatorial candidate and as governor, one of Whitmer's key pledges was to "fix the damn roads", a reference to Michigan's struggling infrastructure. Her initial post-election plan to fund road repairs with a gas tax increase was deeply unpopular, with one poll finding it opposed by 75% of Michigan voters, including majorities of Democrats and independent voters. Democratic legislators in Michigan's Republican-controlled legislature largely declined to support the plan, which would have nearly tripled Michigan's gas tax and potentially made it the highest in the nation.
Whitmer's first budget earmarked several billions of dollars for investment in infrastructure. In 2019, she struggled with the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a budget and made several concessions.
The gubernatorial election and national conversation during Whitmer's time in office focused largely on healthcare. During the election, she was the only Democratic candidate not to support a single-payer healthcare system. As governor, she has focused on women's healthcare and Medicaid expansion.
In May 2020, the Edenville Dam gave way after awaiting an overdue report on its safety standards. Whitmer directed the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to form an investigation that "state Republicans, flooding victim advocates and dam safety experts" criticized, concerned that the state's environmental agency would essentially be investigating itself. Guidelines from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials advocate independent investigators. An inquiry launched by the United States House of Representatives later gave the EGLE and FERC a two-week deadline for answers.
After the 2022 Michigan elections, Democrats took control of the Senate and House of Representatives, allowing Whitmer greater control of her legislative agenda. In her January 2023 State of the State address, she called for repeal of the state's retirement tax; an increase in the state earned income tax credit from 6% to 30%, universal pre-kindergarten; investment in renewable energy such as wind and solar power; a repeal of Michigan's now defunct 1931 abortion ban; increasing education spending, and stricter gun laws, such as universal background checks and a ban on 3D printed guns; the addition of sexual identity and gender identity protections to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act; and further investment in manufacturing.