Gretchen Whitmer is the former Michigan state Senate Minority Leader. She nearly ran for attorney general a few years back, but instead decided to take a pass for a few years in order to raise her young daughters. She’s also awesome. I’ve met her several times; she’s smart, warm/personable, but can also be tough when the occasion warrants.
She’s also willing to stand up for what’s right to a degree I’ve rarely seen in a public official.
A few years back, the Republican-held state legislature put through a disgusting bill which effectively amounted to forcing women to purchase “rape insurance” in order to receive abortion coverage:
As humiliating and degrading as the "rape insurance" law is, as Michigan political blog Eclectablog notes, it actually gets far worse, because:
Now we find out that Michigan women who purchase their health insurance on their own (not part of a group insurance plan) don’t have the option to purchase the extra abortion rider on their insurance. The reason? Because the bill passed by Republicans violates an Affordable Care Act provision that prohibits insurers from offering riders to standard insurance. In other words, their law makes it impossible for women not covered by a group policy to obtain the insurance rider that Republicans are forcing them to buy if they want that coverage.
That's right. As the Detroit News story explains:
the state “opt-out” rider law clashes with provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which outlaws both separate riders and any government subsidy of abortion. Under federal law, insurers cannot offer a rider to a standard, inclusive policy. And the new state law bars insurers from including elective abortion coverage in any policy, on or off the exchange.
During the debate over this bill, then-Senator Whitmer raised eyebrows nationally when she shared her own story of having been raped in college:
Before her colleagues voted a controversial bill restricting abortion insurance into law, Michigan Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D- East Lansing) begged them to consider the rights of women. In her speech Wednesday, the lawmaker held back tears as she revealed something she’d never told most people: she was raped in college.
For several minutes Wednesday afternoon, Whitmer read from notes on the Senate floor, condemning her Republican colleagues who were expected to pass the measure and the group, Right to Life of Michigan, who pushed the measure through.
“As a legislator, a lawyer, a woman and the mother of two girls, I think the fact that rape insurance is even being discussed by this body is repulsive, let alone the way it has been orchestrated and now shoved through the legislature,” she said. “Those of you on the other side of the aisle are all too happy to be puppets in this offensive game impacting women’s lives. ... This is by far one of the most misogynistic proposals I’ve ever seen in the Michigan legislature.”
The law, which appeared before the legislature through a citizen-initiated petition, requires women to purchase additional insurance coverage for elective abortion before they would need one, including in cases of rape and incest.
There’s been a lot of buzz about her running for Governor in 2018, when incumbent GOP Gov Rick “Lead Poisoning” Snyder is term-limited. And I’m happy to report that today, she made it official:
Former state Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer is running for the Democratic nomination for Michigan governor.
The East Lansing Democrat threw her hat in the ring Tuesday, confirming her campaign in an email to supporters. She was also expected to file paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office.
“Together we can build the Michigan we believe in, because we still have what we need most — the strength, the talent, the vision and the grit of the incredible people of this state,” Whitmer wrote.
“For too long, our leaders have been content to manage our decline. We went from leading the nation to lagging. If we want change, we can’t wait for Washington to solve our problems. And we can’t elect the same old politicians, on the same old platforms and expect a different result. We can do better. We deserve better.”
The announcement makes Whitmer the first official major party candidate in the 2018 gubernatorial race. State law prohibits two-term Republican Gov. Rick Snyder from seeking re-election.
...Other potential Democratic candidates include U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, who has been laying the groundwork for a possible run but has not yet announced any formal plans. On the Republican side, Attorney General Bill Schuette of Midland and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley of Portland are among those considering bids.
I should note that Dan Kildee is also great; if he does run and does win the nomination, I’d be more than happy to support him as well. There may be other good Democratic candidates in the mix as well, although Whitmer and Kildee are the two with the most buzz.
Some of her other best-known work in the state Senate:
As minority leader, Whitmer was known as a fiery orator and fierce critic of Republican policies, including right-to-work legislation Snyder signed in late 2012. In 2011, she fought an anti-bullying proposal that included a religious exemption, arguing it would have allowed discrimination against gay students. The exemption language was removed before passage.
Family info:
Whitmer is married and lives with her husband Marc Mallory, a dentist. She has two daughters and he has three sons.