Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told MLive in an interview Thursday, that while she has no aspirations to seek the presidency while serving as Michigan’s governor, she’s “not going to forecast” what may happen afterward.
Whitmer won reelection by a wide margin on Nov. 8 — 11 percentage points — and since 2020, speculation has swirled that Whitmer might be a contender for the presidency. Her resounding midterm victory only brought things to a fever pitch.
In interviews with various media since the election, Whitmer has consistently batted away the idea of running for president in 2024, which would cut short her second term in office.
Related: Whitmer is on the short list of 2024 presidential contenders. She says she’s not interested.
“I am not spending an ounce of energy thinking about anything other than leading the state for the next four years and handing the state over to whomever succeeds me in a stronger position than it is today,” Whitmer told MLive. “That’s going to consume every bit of energy that I have.”
Former president Donald Trump has already announced he’s launching a third campaign for the presidency, and the Democratic incumbent who defeated him in 2020, Joe Biden, is expected to seek reelection. Whitmer, who was on Biden’s short list for the vice presidency, continues to support him.
But what about 2028, two years after Whitmer will have left the governor’s residence?
She looked to her 14 years in the legislature as an analogy. Whitmer said she left the legislature in 2015 with no future plans then, too.
“When I left the legislature, I thought my days in public service were behind me,” she said. “I didn’t know that I was going to ultimately run for this office.”
Had she been asked about running for governor again, “I’d have said, ‘I’ll never run for anything again,’ and I would have been wrong,” Whitmer said. “So I’m not going to forecast.”
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