Two-term Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a high-profile Democrat whom political pundits view as a possible 2028 presidential contender, says she doesn’t plan to run for the White House in the next election cycle.
“There will be a robust group of people running for president,” the term-limited Whitmer told a reporter in Michigan on Thursday. “I will not be one of them in 2028. I can tell you that.”
Whitmer has long been considered one of the leading members of a large group of nationally known Democrats who might jump into what’s expected to be a crowded and competitive field of contenders seeking their party’s presidential nomination in the race to succeed term-limited Republican President Donald Trump. The governor’s new comments appear to shoot down long-held assumptions about her national ambitions.
The governor of key Great Lakes battleground state grabbed plenty of attention during Trump’s first term in office as an outspoken critic of his administration and gave the Democratic response to the president’s 2020 State of the Union address.
But throughout Trump’s second term, Whitmer has sought to find policy areas where she and the president can agree. And her image of being a fierce Trump critic took a major hit in April of last year when she appeared in the Oval Office with the president. Pictures of the governor trying to cover her face with folders quickly went viral and angered some Democrats.
The now infamous photo came as the governor was at the White House for a private meeting to push the president on Michigan-specific issues and was then unexpectedly led into a televised news conference and gaggle with reporters. Whitmer later said she didn’t want her pictures taken, and emphasized that while she didn’t agree with much of what Trump said during the news conference, she stayed in the room to advocate on behalf of her state.
Whitmer, a former state representative, state senator and Ingham County prosecuting attorney, was elected Michigan governor in 2018.
She was often in the national headlines during her first term as governor and was on former President Joe Biden’s shortlist for a 2020 running mate.
Whitmer was also viewed as a potential future White House contender and fueled speculation with a stop in the key presidential primary state of New Hampshire in the summer of 2024, to campaign on behalf of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, soon after Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee.
The list of possible 2028 Democratic presidential contenders includes Harris, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Wes Moore of Maryland, who, similar to Whitmer, has said he isn’t running for the White House in 2028.
Other potential contenders include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California, Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, former ambassador and former Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who served as White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama before winning election and re-election as Chicago mayor, and Gina Raimondo, a former two-term Rhode Island governor who later served as commerce secretary in the Biden administration.