Michigan was home to early COVID-19 skirmishes over the proper extent and scope of masking, distancing, and public safety measures.
Now, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Republicans’ sights for defeat in 2022, they’re accusing the Democratic chief executive of underplaying the coronavirus threat. That’s a significant reversal from February and March 2020, when Whitmer, in office for just over a year, imposed some of the earliest and most aggressive rules requiring mask-wearing in public, along with other restrictions.
Republicans, emboldened by Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia and a close gubernatorial race in New Jersey this month, see Whitmer as vulnerable in a state where COVID-19 is surging.
The Associated Press recently called Michigan “a new COVID hotspot,” with slightly more than 3,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in the state this week, its largest number of patients since spring.
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In response to the beginning of the pandemic last year, Whitmer implemented some of the country’s most stringent COVID-19 restrictions, launching her onto a national stage and even putting her in consideration as a running mate for President Joe Biden during his 2020 campaign.
But, as the pandemic dragged on, Whitmer’s approval rating in the state began to plummet. In September 2020, a poll by the Glengariff Group found 59% of voters approved of Whitmer’s job performance, but that number dropped to 48% in September 2021. Polls in the state prior to Youngkin’s win were already showing a tight race between Whitmer and a Republican rival next year.
Although the election is nearly a year out, the state parties are taking swings at each other over the surge and Whitmer’s record. The state GOP blasted “do-nothing Whitmer” for not implementing new mitigation measures even though cases are now higher than they were for some of her other steps. The state Democrats touted Whitmer’s “Vacc to Normal” program, which they said surpassed its goal of getting 70% of Michiganders vaccinated.
“Rather than join this major effort, Republicans at all levels continued to reject science and push anti-vaccine conspiracy theories rather than encourage their communities to do their part to combat this pandemic and save lives,” the statement from Michigan Democrats said.
Gustavo Portela, communications director for the Michigan GOP, told the Washington Examiner that Whitmer’s policies “put more lives in danger” and “have not actually helped” stop the spread of the virus as cases surge in the state.
“You can protect lives and livelihoods,” Portela said, arguing that the strict policies at other points in the pandemic hurt business more than they slowed the pandemic.
Portela argued Whitmer’s approach overemphasized vaccine mandates at the expense of educating the public about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
The debate and the surge signal that COVID-19 and the state’s response will likely still be on voters’ minds at the ballot box next year.
Republican strategist Jason Roe told the Washington Examiner that Whitmer “has been MIA” as the virus surges.
“She’s not doing anything,” Roe said of the recent surge. “Literally, not a thing.”
Roe said a year is a long time but that Republicans have cause for optimism in the state next year.
“The wind is at our back,” he said.
In a statement, Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes blasted what he called Republicans’ “hyperpartisan obstruction to Governor Whitmer.”
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“Michigan Republicans will continue to ignore science, politicize the outcome of their callous hypocrisy, and refuse to lift a finger to motivate their base to stop the spread and save lives,” Barnes said.
