Governor Gretchen Whitmer on the Stakes for Women in this Election

Today, we’ve got a bonus episode of “9 to 5ish” for you with a guest whose name has been in the news a lot lately. Our guest is Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, the co-chair of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, and author of the New York Times bestseller “True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between.”  As a popular governor of a swing state, Governor Whitmer’s name has been floated in convos about who might be on the Democratic ticket since Biden ended his re-election campaign. 

In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Governor Whitmer shares: 

• Whether you’ll see a Harris-Whitmer ticket in 2024

• What politicians can do to stop political violence

• How Democrats should think about reaching conservative and independent voters

• What most people are surprised to learn about her after reading her book 

On Condemning Political Violence on Both Sides

Gov. Whitmer: Every time I see the rhetoric, I hear the rhetoric, I look at how a crowd's reaction to someone who's spewing rhetoric – it makes me nervous. And when I saw that, I was just heartbroken. I'm glad that Donald Trump was not hurt worse. I feel terrible that someone was killed and others were injured. And yet I can't forget that when I've been asking people to bring down the heat for years now – three years now – every time I’m mentioned by Donald Trump, I get more threats. We can't cheer violence against our enemies and not assume at some point it could turn on us. And that's why it's incumbent on everyone with a platform to call it out and to hold one another accountable. It's not funny when it's against your opponent, but unfunny when it turns against you. It is serious and it is a real threat. 

On Reaching Independent and Moderate Voters 

Gov. Whitmer: Michigan's a swing state. It is a close state and I won by almost 11 points. One of the reasons is because we had reproductive rights on the ballot. Another is because we showed up, we listened and we empowered people. I sat across the table from so many women who said, “I'm a Republican. I did not vote for you, but I'm out knocking doors for you this time around, because you're the only one that's fighting for my daughter's rights.” And I think that's powerful. We should be able to find common ground on some of these fundamentals. And I know that, as a pragmatic leader, Vice President Harris is going to make a seat at the table for people who maybe aren't traditionally sitting at that table. 

On What She’d Say to JD Vance

Gov. Whitmer: I would wonder what happened between that guy that wrote “Hillbilly Elegy” and the guy that we now see on the national stage. I bought that book, read it, and thought it was great. And now it doesn't even look like it could have been written by the same person that we now see on the stage. What happened?

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