With Joe Biden out of the presidential race, what will Gov. Gretchen Whitmer do?

Before President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign Sunday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer found her name routinely floated as a potential contender to replace him. With the field now cleared for another Democrat to run against former President Donald Trump, Whitmer has an opportunity to make a last-minute bid.

A spokesperson for Whitmer's fundraising operation launched to support Biden's reelection campaign did not respond to questions about whether Whitmer would consider seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for president or vice president. Instead, she referred the Detroit Free Press to the governor's response to Biden's decision to exit the race posted on social media platform X. "My job in this election will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump," Whitmer wrote, calling his agenda "completely wrong for Michigan."

Whitmer made her political debut on the national stage after winning her first gubernatorial campaign on a pledge to "fix the damn roads." In 2020, she delivered her party’s response to Trump’s State of the Union speech, kicking off a year in which the former president and his allies decried her efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 as draconian and tried to overturn his election loss in the battleground state.

On the heels of her most recent victory when she beat her GOP opponent by a double-digit margin, Whitmer said she wanted to focus on serving out her term as Michigan’s governor. Asked to contemplate her political career after that, she told the Detroit Free Press in November 2022 she didn’t foresee herself ever running for president.

“The lure of Washington, D.C., has not been something that has ever drawn my interest or attention,” she said at the time.

But in interviews last year, Whitmer left open the possibility she might run in the future but repeatedly brushed off speculation that she might run in 2024, throwing her full support behind Biden as a national co-chair for his campaign.

In the immediate aftermath of Biden’s weak debate performance in June that prompted calls for him to exit the race, Whitmer reiterated her strong support for his campaign. 

During a rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday, Trump weighed in on calls from Democrats for Biden to drop out of the race and speculation Whitmer might replace his opponent at the top of the ticket. "I'd like to run against her," Trump said, less than 24 hours before Biden would suspend his campaign, upending the race.

Before Trump's appearance in Michigan, he accepted his party's nomination on the stage of the Republican National Convention held in Wisconsin, another key state that could decide control of the White House. Shouting over a rock band jamming on the stage and the sounds of GOP delegates popping the balloons that fell after Trump’s speech, Michigan GOP Chair Pete Hoekstra said he wasn't worried that Biden's possible exit from the race would hurt Republicans' chances to take back the White House. "Democrats’ policies have been energizing Republicans in Michigan for four years," he said.

What happens if Whitmer decides to run?

Biden amassed enough pledged Democratic delegates to secure the nomination but his decision to step aside frees them up to support another candidate. On Sunday, he endorsed, on X, Vice President Kamala Harris to be his party's nominee.

If Whitmer were to launch a presidential campaign, she would have to try to persuade delegates that she’s a strong choice who can defeat Trump this fall.

And just as national pundits have put forward Whitmer’s name as a possible candidate to replace Biden, presumably her name would make the top of the list of potential vice president picks, too.

Who would be Michigan's governor if Whitmer runs and wins?

If Whitmer were to resign from her current office, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II would serve out the remainder of her term under the Michigan Constitution. Whitmer's current term ends on Jan. 1, 2027.

Editor's note: This piece has been updated to reflect that Whitmer's gubernatorial term ends Jan. 1, 2027. 

Contact Clara Hendrickson:chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter,@clarajanehen.

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