(The Center Square) – Incumbent Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon are striking final blows before Election Day.
Whitmer leads in the polls and by millions in campaign cash, but Dixon has advanced in recent polls. Each candidate promises to improve Michigan’s economic outlook if they win.
Whitmer, a former state senator and prosecutor, has years of experience in Lansing. The first-term governor says she has fixed 16,000 lane miles of road so far, but needs another term to finish.
Whitmer signed a record $77 billion 2023 budget with extra support for child care and schools. More than $21 billion will fund Michigan education in 2023, fueled by federal COVID money to provide a record high $9,150 per-pupil funding for every public-school student. One of her programs aims to give $10,000 in tuition for 2,500 future Michigan educators.
The extra spending was in response to a decline in Michigan academics in every grade level since 2019, according to National Assessment of Education Progress test scores.
Whitmer announced her Futures for Frontliners program that helps some Michiganders get career training, and additional investments in schools and the future of electric vehicles. Whitmer tweeted on Nov. 4:
“Michigan put the world on wheels — and we’re building on our legacy to keep Michigan on the cutting edge of auto manufacturing:
- $7 billion from @GM: 5,000 jobs
- $4.5 billion from @Stellantis: 6,500 jobs
- $2 billion from @Ford: 3,200 jobs”
Whitmer has announced more than 25,000 auto jobs in the last four years, although many haven’t transpired. Michigan still hasn’t recovered 83,000 jobs lost pre-pandemic, after which Whitmer shuttered much of the economy and ordered schools to remote learning.
Whitmer has said she will “fight like hell” for abortion rights after U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, triggering a 1931 law that criminalizes abortion.
The Democrat touted her record bipartisan investment in K-12 education and electric vehicle infrastructure. Whitmer has championed EV tech, including a wireless road that charges EVs while driving, a Lake Michigan EV charger circuit, and a plan to spend $110 million of federal funds for EV charging infrastructure over five years.
Whitmer still holds the lead in eight of the most recent polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight, with the largest lead granted her by the Oct. 28-Nov. 1 EPIC/MRA poll, which puts her 11 percentage points ahead of Dixon.
