Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon faced off in the first of two gubernatorial debates Thursday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, providing stark contrasts in their approaches to abortion, education, and crime.
The event took place as Whitmer’s massive polling lead over Dixon has begun to shrink with less than four weeks to go before the election.
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Here are some of the top takeaways from the first debate:
Abortion approach: passive vs. aggressive
The two candidates took different approaches to the first question of the night regarding abortion, though both referenced a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to protect a right to an abortion.
Whitmer pointed to her lawsuit, which argues a 1931 law that bans abortion, with an exception for the life of the mother, is against the state constitution.
“My lawsuit would have preserved the status quo, with the limitations that are on the books right now, the legislature wouldn’t act it, and that’s precisely why we are going to the ballot now,” Whitmer said.
The governor also said she will be voting yes on a ballot initiative to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution.
When pressed directly on what restrictions she would be in favor of, Whitmer deflected and did not commit to any restrictions on abortion.
Dixon said she is “pro-life with exceptions for life of the mother,” but she opted for a more passive response by stressing she is not above the proposed constitutional amendment and pledging to respect the will of the people on the matter.
“I’ve been very clear on this, and I’ve made this statement multiple times. I will always respect the will of the voter,” Dixon said. “I don’t believe that there are laws that I’m above and unlike the governor here, who said on multiple occasions, if there’s a law out there that I know I agree with, I think I should be able to go around it. … I don’t believe in that. I believe in our constitution, and I believe in the people’s right to decide.”
Dixon did not say how she would vote on the ballot initiative.
Education: school safety
The candidates talked about different priorities for education. Whitmer touted the matter of school safety, while Dixon focused on school curriculum and choice.
“I am furious and angry that in this country, and only in this country, the No. 1 killer of children is gun violence. As governor, we need to act. I support secure storage. I support background checks. I support red flag laws. My opponent, on the other hand, does not. She’s proposed more guns, less oversight, and eliminating gun-free zones,” Whitmer said.
Dixon talked about mental health initiatives and finding alarming indicators in students.
“In 2018, our state police released a safe schools report that safe schools report covered everything from hardening our schools to making sure that the mental health of our students was taken care of, making sure we’re seeing those flags when we see a child that’s in danger,” Dixon said. “The Michigan Department of [Education], has now come out and said there are times when we can hide a dangerous situation from parents. If a student wants to harm themselves or someone else, we should hide it from the parents. We’ve never seen something like this before. We’re in really scary times. We need to try [to] trust our experts when our state police come out with a report like that. We need to take it very seriously.”
Dixon also pushed for armed people to protect students in schools, while Whitmer doubled down on gun restrictions.
Education: curriculum and public school funding
With the matter of education and ensuring the best outcome for students, Dixon pushed for curriculum to go back to the basics.
“We need to kids back to reading and back to the basics. Right now, in Michigan schools, as you’re seeing on the news, parents are really concerned about what their kids are being taught, with the sex and gender theory and not teaching them to read, write, and do math. We’ve made it very clear: We want parents involved in the child’s education, and we want to go back to the basics, making sure our kids know how to read, write, and do math,” Dixon said.
Whitmer advocated for public school funding while also slamming Dixon’s ties to former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
“I know that an education is what levels the playing field and creates opportunity for every person, and that’s why I worked with the legislature in a bipartisan manner and we delivered the biggest investment in public education in Michigan history. We closed the gap between districts. We ensure that we’ve got wraparound supports, whether it comes to mental health support or tripling the number of literacy coaches. We’re dropping class size and luring great people to go into teaching. That is how we ensure that all the kids have a great education,” Whitmer said.
Crime
Dixon slammed Whitmer for marching with protesters in favor of defunding the police. She also touted her endorsements from several police unions while explaining her plan for tackling crime.
“My plan would put a billion dollars into policing to make sure they know they’re supported, but also to recruit and retain new police officers. It’s so challenging to bring police officer to a state where the chief executive officer has supported defund the police. We’re going to make sure that not only are they supported, but they have the tools they need,” Dixon said.
Whitmer described Dixon’s crime policies as being “long on rhetoric and short on facts.” And she touted her accomplishments regarding crime.
“My opponent is proposing policies that increase guns, decrease oversight, and eliminate gun-free zones. That’s not going to make us any safer. Here’s what will: I delivered a bipartisan investment in our law enforcement, a billion dollars for training, for recruiting, for making sure that we’re shoring a penchant for those who risk their lives for all of us every day,” Whitmer said.
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Dixon has trailed Whitmer in nearly every poll since the primaries, with the incumbent governor holding an average polling lead of 8.2 percentage points, per RealClearPolitics. An outlier poll released Thursday showed Dixon and Whitmer tied.
The second debate between Dixon and Whitmer is scheduled for Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. local time. RealClearPolitics has rated the race as a “toss up.”
