DETROIT — Kudos to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is getting a major boost in name recognition following Democratic leaders’ request that she deliver her party’s English-language response to President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
While Mitten State outsiders are likely turning to Google to find out more about Whitmer, many who know her are scratching their heads at the honor — especially Republicans who just witnessed a major budget fiasco orchestrated by the freshman Democratic governor.
Some pundits believe that Democrats want Whitmer in the spotlight to test her chops as a potential vice presidential candidate, depending on the nominee. A woman governor from a Midwest battleground state like Michigan could prove advantageous to the 2020 ticket. Trump narrowly won Michigan in 2016, and both parties are paying close attention to the state this election.
Whitmer is one of nine women governors (six of whom are Democrats) who ascended to office in 2018. Michigan became a poster child for the “pink wave” phenomenon, and the top three statewide offices ( governor, attorney general, and secretary of state) are now all held by Democratic women. Whitmer beat her Republican opponent, former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, in a decisive victory, with an 8.5 percentage point advantage.
So Whitmer is a worthy example of how a woman can win big. In last month’s Democratic presidential debate, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar gave Whitmer a shoutout for defeating her male, Republican contender.
While Whitmer has proven she can win an election, she’s floundered in her leadership. She ran on a platform of “fixing the damn roads,” which anyone who’s driven on a pothole-ridden Michigan road knows is a pressing priority.
Yet her 45-cent a gallon tax hike proposal fell flat on taxpayers and lawmakers alike. Even fellow Democratic leaders called the measure “extreme.” Rather than negotiate with the Republican-led House and Senate, Whitmer dug in her heels.
Whitmer began her term claiming she wanted bipartisan collaboration on a range of issues, touting her expertise in both chambers of state government, including a stint leading her party’s caucus in the State Senate.
The governor and Legislature did agree on some important measures around criminal justice reform. And under threat of a ballot proposal led by Detroit billionaire Dan Gilbert, Whitmer signed on to a revamp of the state’s no-fault auto insurance system, a system which has for years forced Michigan drivers to suffer under the highest-in-the-nation car insurance rates.
When it came to the budget, however, Whitmer made a major miscalculation. After Republicans in the Legislature presented her with a budget in late September that fell short of her desired road funding, she fired back by axing nearly $1 billion with her line-item veto pen.
Whitmer targeted funding she thought would bring Republicans running back to the negotiating table. For instance, she used her red pen to slash $35 million slated to go toward low-income students at charter schools. All other public schools in poor neighborhoods received a $240-per-pupil boost. She also vetoed funding directed to assisting individuals with autism, among other programs that help the vulnerable.
Republicans weren’t thrilled, but they were content to let the governor face the criticism that followed.
In the end, Whitmer caved and reversed many of these cuts, even though she didn’t get much of what she wanted — most glaringly absent was more funding for roads.
Roughly $400 million worth of Whitmer’s vetoes remained in the final supplemental budget, completed in December. Cutting funding for a state tourism campaign and other corporate welfare programs pleased fiscal conservatives.
Whitmer switched gears last week in her State of the State address, announcing she’d pursue costly bonds for infrastructure repairs to bypass lawmakers and push the payments down the road.
In addition to the budget fight, the governor gained some national attention last year by making Michigan the first in the country to ban flavored vaping products, but her emergency rules were quickly halted by the courts. She would have been better off going through the Legislature rather than relying on executive authority.
None of this seemed to concern House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who said in a joint statement they were thrilled to choose Whitmer.
“Her decades of hard work on behalf of the people should serve as a model for our nation,” Pelosi said. “She’s a forward-looking leader who is laser-focused on solving problems for everyday Michiganders and is uniquely qualified to deliver Democrats’ message of progress for all Americans.”
Schumer declared Whitmer a “model for public servants everywhere.”
Citizens here have good reason to be more skeptical about whether Whitmer should be upheld as a role model for success.
Ingrid Jacques (@Ingrid_Jacques) is deputy editorial page editor at the Detroit News.
