Democratic National Convention via AP
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention, August 17, 2020.
Of the eight Michigan elected officials who spoke at a Democratic National Convention watch party Wednesday evening, six were not in their posts four years ago. That group includes Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who fended off attacks from Trump and weathered protests over her response to the coronavirus pandemic. It includes star freshmen in Congress like moderate Elissa Slotkin and progressive Rashida Tlaib. It includes state officials like Attorney General Dana Nessel, who argued one of the cases that ushered in gay marriage, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, whose election means Michigan has a much higher chance of running a fair election this fall.
The past two years have seen Michigan’s leadership transition to an almost entirely female, Democratic group. Nessel, who is also the first LGBTQ person elected to office in the state, quipped during the event that “if you look at the other side of the aisle and you see who represents us in Congress, it’s a bunch of straight, Christian, white dudes.” She also discussed reading about her “anger and stupidity” in one of Donald Trump’s tweets—an experience Whitmer shares. Earlier this year, Trump called her “that woman from Michigan,” an epithet that could have described any number of state officials.
While Michigan voters are perfectly happy to vote for liberal women for state office in the past two years, they chose a different route in 2016. Hillary Clinton lost the state to Trump by just over 10,000 votes, after a surprise loss to Bernie Sanders in the primary months earlier. Could that happen again, despite the transformation of the state’s leadership in the period since? Recent polls show Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by around seven percentage points. Then again, on August 19, 2016, they showed Clinton leading Trump by 11.
Slotkin alluded to the strategy that allowed the assembled group to succeed where Clinton couldn’t. She discussed their hyper-local approach and focus on issues like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, which provides funding for families to purchase healthy food, and health care reform that women tend to support.
“We figured out how to do it in 2018,” Slotkin said, adding that both she and Rep. Haley Stevens replaced Republican men in districts Trump won. “We are the establishment now,” Nessel added.
In November, voters may demonstrate how strong Michigan’s leftward tilt is. If that shift proves durable, it will be because Biden makes policy choices that appeal to all voters in the state.
“I’m excited about this election because I know that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get it,” Whitmer said during a Wednesday press call. “They have a policy agenda that is going to improve economic security for women, and it’s going to help us navigate the disproportionate challenge women face, caring for our children and for other family members. We know Joe knows how to get stuff done.”
