CNN and The New York Times are calling Democrat Gretchen Whitmer as governor of Michigan, succeeding term-limited Gov. Rick Snyder. Originally from Lansing, Whitmer was previously a member of both the Michigan House of Representatives and Michigan Senate, serving as the Senate minority leader until 2014.
Whitmer is leading Republican candidate Bill Schuette 56.4 percent to 40.8 percent with 27 percent of the vote counted according to CNN.
Her election breaks the Republican trifecta of Michigan government, with the GOP having maintained control of the Michigan governorship, state House of Representatives, and state Senate since 2010, and signals a shift in voter attitudes since the state elected President Trump in 2016.
On the campaign trail, Whitmer secured the endorsements of big Democratic politicians such as former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, and U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. She campaigned on expanding health care coverage and lowering costs, improving the education system, increasing skills training so people can secure higher-wage jobs and “fixing the damn roads.”
Whitmer held a rally alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell, and {newly-elected Michigan Attorney General/Michigan Attorney General candidate} Dana Nessel at the University of Michigan in October to mobilize the student vote.
“In a political environment where it is easy to feel demoralized, easy to feel like it doesn’t matter, easy to feel angry about what we see every day as breaking news,” Whitmer said. “We know we have an opportunity in 18 days to show the world what kind of leadership we think we deserve.”