Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that she will take some time off to unwind in January after wrapping up eight years in office and decades in Michigan politics before deciding what to do next. She is often mentioned as possible presidential candidate in two years.
“Running for president in 2028 is not on my list,” she told Michigan Public Radio in at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference, which brings together some of the state’s top political, business and not-for-profit influencers.
The looming end of her gubernatorial tenure has led to wide speculation that she is eyeing a national run. She has written a book, appears regularly on national media and her polling numbers remain above 50% among registered voters in the state.
“I think there are rational and emotional reasons why this conversation is persistent since the pandemic,” said public relations advisor Matt Friedman. “The rational reasons are approval numbers. She’s popular by contemporary standards in a purple state. The emotional reasons are about personality and charisma that make her a standout among governors.”
And, he said, at this moment voters may be more tuned into the fact that they know who she is than what she has done.
“She’s turned herself into something of a political celebrity,” he said.
And Whitmer has never entirely closed the door even as she downplayed any interest in the job.
“Never say never,” she told the conference in her closing address.
Whitmer told Michigan Public Radio she will spend her remaining months in office getting an on-time budget done and setting a foundation for her successor.
“Our work on literacy is really important and I think we have, I think, done a lot of the groundwork, but making sure that the education budget continues that,” she said. “Affordable housing buildout is absolutely necessary. We’ve made great strides. We’ve overachieved in terms of what the goals that we set were.”
Whitmer said she will continue to fight for her economic program, including the use of incentives as a business attraction tool. Whitmer said she thinks whoever follows her, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican, will recognize the value of the incentives once they are responsible for bringing jobs to Michigan. The state’s business incentives are controversial and come under fire from conservatives and progressives.
