Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is backing President Joe Biden’s re-election while garnering national attention of her own
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Experts say Whitmer could be a top pick to replace Biden should he bow out by the August nomination convention
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Whitmer is writing a book and raising funds for federal candidates, fueling speculation she’ll run for president at some point
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How Whitmer could win the White House this year
Whitmer insists she has no interest in replacing Biden on the ticket this fall, but experts say the governor could be a top pick for Democrats should the president still decide — or be forced — to bow out of the race.
While primary ballots in Michigan and many other states have already been finalized, Democrats could theoretically anoint an alternative candidate at their national nominating convention, set for Chicago in August.
Democrats haven’t had a convention-based election since 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson opted against re-election and delegates nominated Vice President Hubert Humphrey even though he had not won a single state primary.
If Biden dropped out before Chicago, Whitmer or any other candidates would
need to secure 300 delegate signatures to be considered in a floor vote at the convention, according to Democratic National Committee rules.
It’s “extraordinarily unlikely,” but “in a scenario like that, Whitmer would be on the shortlist of the shortlist” of replacement candidates, said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist with the Grassroots Midwest consulting firm in Lansing.
It’s also a possible scenario for Republicans as Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, approaches his 78th birthday while battling criminal charges, including
a federal indictment stemming from his failed bid to overturn his 2020 election losses in Michigan and other states.
Biding her time as a team player for the Democratic Party could ultimately be beneficial for Whitmer – even if Biden ends up losing this fall, Hemond said.
“The American people, in public opinion poll after public opinion poll, have made clear that they do not want a rematch,” between Biden and Trump, he said. “And that means the governor – assuming her book comes out in a timely fashion – is going to be really well positioned to say ‘I told you so’ if Biden loses.”
Biden has trailed Trump in several early polls of swing state voters, including in Michigan, where
one recent survey had the president trailing the former president by 8 percentage points. The same poll showed
Whitmer 5 points ahead of Trump in her home state, which has played a key role in recent contests.
Biden is "in deep trouble in Michigan,” said Richard Czuba, who heads the Glengariff Group Inc. polling firm that conducted the survey. “At some point, I wonder if Democrats are going to realize that and do something about it.”
The speculation that Biden might drop out late and pave the way for Whitmer or some other candidate at the convention appears to be mostly just “wishful thinking” from Democrats wary of a grueling election cycle, Czuba said.
But, he noted, “Biden comes from an era where these things were decided at conventions. He was around (in 1968) when Lyndon Johnson announced in March he wasn't going to run and it threw the Democratic race wide open.”
However unlikely, “there is 100% no doubt that Whitmer is preparing” for the possibility of a convention election, said Sellek, the founder of Harbor Strategic Public Affairs in Lansing.
“I think she's clearly pursuing all angles, as if she could be running this time.”
‘Ain’t no way’
Whitmer has seen the polling suggesting she could be a better candidate to take on Trump, at least in Michigan. But she’s laughing it off for now, publicly anyway.
“I don’t even know why they asked the question,” the governor told Bridge, “because there ain’t no way.”
Democrats aren't panicking about Biden's polling because "nobody's paying attention" 10 months out from the election, said Jonathan Kinloch, a vice chair for the Michigan Democratic Party and chair of its 13th Congressional District.
Biden will win re-election once voters again see the "stark differences" to Trump, and Whitmer will be a "dynamic" contender come 2028, he predicted.
Republicans in Lansing have tried to use Whitmer’s rising political star against her, routinely dismissing her policy proposals as attempts to garner favor with national Democratic Party insiders, donors or voters.
"It's all about public relations," Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, said Wednesday after Whitmer used her sixth annual
State of the State address to propose free community college, universal preschool and unveil plans to spend $1.4 billion on affordable housing initiatives.
"She's trying to be in the waiting wings, seeing if Biden's actually going to be the nominee after the convention," Nesbitt speculated. “She seems to be loading up on these promises and then leaving the bill to the next Legislature and governor.”
Whitmer denied a recent report that she’d signed a
“seven-figure” book deal, but the governor acknowledged she may still publish a book this year, which would give her another opportunity to connect with a national audience.
“Not like a memoir or anything like that – nobody got time for that – but I’ve taken notes, and if I feel like I’ve got something to share, I might do that,” she told Bridge.
The governor in June launched a federal political action committee to raise funds for other candidates. She reported $171,000 in donations in the first month and announced an
initial round of endorsements in December, backing mostly Midwest members of Congress seeking re-election.
