Who is Gretchen Whitmer? Will the Michigan governor become Harris' running mate?
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House is in full swing, and rumors about who she will pick as her running mate are already circulating.
At least seven Democrats — including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — are currently under consideration to be her vice presidential running mate, according to a source familiar with the process. If selected, the Harris-Whitmer ticket would become the first all-women ticket in history.
But Whitmer refuted reports on Tuesday that Harris’ presidential campaign asked to vet her as a potential running mate, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I am not interested in doing other than this job for the next two and a half years,” she told reporters after signing Michigan’s education budget.
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Who is Gretchen Whitmer?
A two-term, swing-state Democratic governor, Whitmer, 52, could be a tantalizing choice. In her time as governor, she has survived right-wing attacks over her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a kidnapping plot. In 2022, Whitmer was re-elected for a second term during the same election in which Democrats won control of the state Legislature for the first time in 40 years. Before rising to governor, she served in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015, and was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006.
In recent years, she has emerged as a key figure in the Democratic Party. As a national campaign co-chair for Biden, she took the lead on Biden’s reelection campaign in a critical battleground state and currently serves as a co-chair of Harris’ campaign. Her memoir, “True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between,” was released on July 9.
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She has also been a staunch supporter of Biden, urging Democrats to stick by their presumptive presidential candidate even as voters and leading Democratic figures called for him to step aside. The day after Biden announced he was stepping down, she endorsed Harris for president.
“In Vice President Harris, Michigan voters have a presidential candidate they can count on to focus on lowering their costs, restoring their freedoms, bringing jobs and supply chains back home from overseas, and building an economy that works for working people,” Whitmer said in a statement endorsing Harris. “She’s a former prosecutor, a champion for reproductive freedom, and I know that she’s got Michigan’s back.”
Who else is in the running to be VP?
In addition to Whitmer, the Harris campaign has requested vetting materials from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cedric Richmond, a former Louisiana congressman who served as a top aide in the Biden White House.
Maya Homan is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on Georgia politics. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @MayaHoman.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Who is Gretchen Whitmer, and will she run for vice president?
