Skip to main content
Cloudy icon
37º

GRETCHEN WHITMER

Gretchen Whitmer was elected governor of Michigan in 2018. She gained national attention leading the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whitmer is a Democrat. She was born in Lansing and went to high school near Grand Rapids. She attended Michigan State University for undergraduate and law school. 

Vice President JD Vance waves following a rally where he spoke about "America's industrial resurgence," Friday, March 14, 2025, at Vantage Plastics in Bay City, Mich. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)

In Michigan, Vance says US manufacturing can rebound despite tariff jitters and falling markets

Read full article: In Michigan, Vance says US manufacturing can rebound despite tariff jitters and falling markets

Vice President JD Vance has toured a Michigan plastics manufacturing facility while promoting a promised Trump administration industrial renaissance nationwide even as jitters about rising tariffs and steep drops in consumer confidence and financial markets point to the opposite.

FILE - Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs gives the State of the State address in the House of Representatives at the Capitol on Jan. 13, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Find common ground or dig in for battle? Arizona's top Democrats are taking different approaches

Read full article: Find common ground or dig in for battle? Arizona's top Democrats are taking different approaches

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes have adopted sharply different approaches to handling Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, speaks to an overflow crowd outside Lincoln High School as he talks about "Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here", Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)

Drawing huge crowds, Bernie Sanders steps into leadership of the anti-Trump resistance

Read full article: Drawing huge crowds, Bernie Sanders steps into leadership of the anti-Trump resistance

At 83 years old, Bernie Sanders has emerged as an unlikely leader of the Democratic resistance to Donald Trump.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, is joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for a news conference in Statuary Hall at the Capitol, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Democratic activists fueled anti-Trump protests at GOP town halls but also rage at their own party

Read full article: Democratic activists fueled anti-Trump protests at GOP town halls but also rage at their own party

Democrats filled Republican town halls during the congressional break to protest President Donald Trump’s power grab in Washington.

President Donald Trump speaks at the Governors Working Session in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Democratic governors balance whether to fight or pacify after Trump threatens one of their own

Read full article: Democratic governors balance whether to fight or pacify after Trump threatens one of their own

President Donald Trump’s real-time confrontation with Maine’s governor over transgender athletes captured the conundrum many Democratic governors are facing in the Republican’s second term.

State Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, reacts during the Michigan Republican Party Convention, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Michigan state lawmaker beats out loyal Trump ally charged in fake elector case for GOP party chair

Read full article: Michigan state lawmaker beats out loyal Trump ally charged in fake elector case for GOP party chair

Michigan Republicans have elected a state lawmaker to lead the GOP into the 2026 midterms, State Sen. Jim Runestad whipped enough delegates Saturday after two rounds of voting to beat out the other two candidates, including Meshawn Maddock, a loyal ally to President Donald Trump who is charged with being a fake elector for Trump in the 2020 election.

FILE - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg testifies to a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Committee hearing, May 2, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Buttigieg weighs a decision with huge implications for Democrats: Run for Senate or president?

Read full article: Buttigieg weighs a decision with huge implications for Democrats: Run for Senate or president?

Pete Buttigieg is quietly contemplating his future from a small city in northern Michigan while talking to Democratic Party officials, labor leaders and top strategists.

This undated photo released by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Demetrius Frazier, who is scheduled to be executed Feb. 6, 2025 in Atmore, Alabama. Frazier was convicted of killing Pauline Brown in 1991. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)

Alabama puts man to death for a 1991 murder in the nation's fourth execution using nitrogen gas

Read full article: Alabama puts man to death for a 1991 murder in the nation's fourth execution using nitrogen gas

Alabama has carried out the nation’s fourth nitrogen gas execution, putting a man to death for the killing of a woman who was raped and shot during an apartment break-in.

This undated photo released by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Demetrius Frazier, who is scheduled to be executed using nitrogen gas on Feb. 6, 2025, in Alabama. Frazier was convicted of killing Pauline Brown during a 1991 burglary. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)

Federal judge hears request to block an upcoming nitrogen gas execution in Alabama

Read full article: Federal judge hears request to block an upcoming nitrogen gas execution in Alabama

A federal judge has heard competing testimony over a request to block the nation's fourth execution using nitrogen gas.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 22: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic Party supporters are gathering in Chicago, as current Vice President Kamala Harris is named her party's presidential nominee. The DNC takes place from August 19-22. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

What to know about new bills allowing Michigan pharmacists to prescribe birth control

Read full article: What to know about new bills allowing Michigan pharmacists to prescribe birth control

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a 16-bill package that expands reproductive rights and access to birth control for Michigan residents.

Roughly half of the Minnesota House seats remain empty as Democrats fail to show up after the legislative session gaveled in on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in St. Paul, Minnesota. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

Democrats' Minnesota House boycott echoes earlier walkouts in other states

Read full article: Democrats' Minnesota House boycott echoes earlier walkouts in other states

Democrats in the Minnesota House who have boycotted daily sessions are using tactics that lawmakers elsewhere have tried dozens of times in seeking to thwart their opponents.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 22: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic Party supporters are gathering in Chicago, as current Vice President Kamala Harris is named her party's presidential nominee. The DNC takes place from August 19-22. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Whitmer signs bills that allow Michigan pharmacists to prescribe birth control

Read full article: Whitmer signs bills that allow Michigan pharmacists to prescribe birth control

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a 16-bill package that expands reproductive rights and access to birth control for Michigan residents.

FILE - Supporters look on as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Many Democrats don't think they'll see a woman become president, AP-NORC poll finds

Read full article: Many Democrats don't think they'll see a woman become president, AP-NORC poll finds

An increasing number of Democrats are questioning whether their party’s commitment to diverse candidates, especially women, may lead to more political struggles in the Trump era.

Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett, a Detroit Democrat, speaks to reporters in the Michigan House of Representatives in Lansing, Mich., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, alongside Republican minority leader Matt Hall. (AP Photo/Isabella Volmert)

Internal divisions doom Michigan Democrats in their final days of legislative control

Read full article: Internal divisions doom Michigan Democrats in their final days of legislative control

Michigan Democrats are ending their final days in control of the state government bogged down with disunity and inaction.

FILE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks, accompanied by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, from left, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Riverside Park, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Democratic governors hammered Trump before the election. Now they're hoping to work with him

Read full article: Democratic governors hammered Trump before the election. Now they're hoping to work with him

A handful of prominent Democratic governors are quickly adjusting their approach to President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January.

Michigan State Sen. Sarah Anthony, left, and Sen. Mallory McMorrow talk on the Senate floor, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House

Read full article: Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House

Democrats in Michigan are pressing to pass reproductive health care legislation before the party loses its majority with the new legislative session next year.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is interviewed, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, will run for Michigan governor in 2026 as independent

Read full article: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, will run for Michigan governor in 2026 as independent

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, says he'll run for Michigan governor in 2026 as an independent because “there are a lot of people in this country who are tired of both” the Democratic and Republican parties.

A well wisher kneels to pray at a memorial on the sign of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. A 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at the school, killing several students and wounding multiple other people, including a teacher. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer honors victims on 3-year remembrance of Oxford shooting

Read full article: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer honors victims on 3-year remembrance of Oxford shooting

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist released statements Saturday to honor the victims that were killed in the Oxford High School shooting three years ago.

FILE - Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte, who faces Democrat Joyce Craig in the November 2024 election, smiles during a visit to a local concrete coating business, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

A record 13 women will be governors next year after New Hampshire elected Kelly Ayotte

Read full article: A record 13 women will be governors next year after New Hampshire elected Kelly Ayotte

A record 13 women will serve as governor next year after the election of New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte, breaking the record set in 2023.

Democratic state Rep. Jaime Churches who seeks a second term in the state House campaigns door to door, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Trenton, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Michigan House races will test Democrats' grasp on the state government trifecta

Read full article: Michigan House races will test Democrats' grasp on the state government trifecta

The same Michigan voters Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris needs in the critical swing state will also determine whether her party maintains its foothold on state government two years after pulling off a historic sweep.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally the Oakland Expo Center in Waterford Township, Mich., Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Harris and Trump seek Arab American votes in Michigan in effort to shore up battleground states

Read full article: Harris and Trump seek Arab American votes in Michigan in effort to shore up battleground states

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both seeking support from Arab American voters as they campaign in Michigan, trying to lock down support in a battleground state that could decide the presidential race.