Whitmer: With 'close race' in Michigan, Biden can't take a vote for granted
MACKINAC ISLAND — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is not on the ballot this fall, but she's taking a lead role with President Joe Biden's reelection campaign in the battleground state she leads.
As campaign co-chair for Biden, Whitmer hopes to help deliver the state for him. Her outlook with several months to go until Nov. 5? "The race in Michigan's always going to be a close race," she said in an interview with the Free Press at her summer residence on Mackinac Island, where politicians and business leaders throughout the state have gathered for the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference.
"I have told so many people, 'Listen, don't lose your cool because we're down two. Do not celebrate because we're up two. This is going to be in the margins the whole way,' " Whitmer said.
Some public opinion polls of Michigan voters this year have shown former President Donald Trump leading Biden in Michigan.
Biden's reelection campaign faces some potential headwinds, Whitmer said, including from third-party candidates and divisions within Democrats' coalition of voters.
"It's always a mistake to sleep on Michigan or to make any assumptions about where the Michigan electorate is. You don't know until you show up, and that's why we’re doing that," Whitmer said.
She recently welcomed Biden in Michigan's biggest city for a Detroit Branch NAACP dinner where the president emphasized the importance of Black voters to his reelection. It marked his third campaign stop in Michigan so far this year. Trump has made his own trips to the state, holding two rallies so far and one news briefing on immigration in Grand Rapids.
The frequent visits to Michigan underscore the state's importance to the presidential election as Biden and Trump move closer to a likely rematch this fall.
"I do think that Michigan is once again going to play an outsized role in what the outcome is," Whitmer said.
Michigan Politics: Politicians and business leaders gather for annual Mackinac Policy Conference
If Trump wins a trio of other toss-up states ― Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — Biden has to win Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin if the rest of the electoral map looks as it did in 2020.
In 2016, Trump won the state by a small, 0.2% margin to defeat Hillary Clinton. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump by more than 154,000 votes or just under three percentage points.
Coming off her own reelection campaign in 2022, Whitmer said her successful bid for a second term provides a model for Biden: show up everywhere and earn every vote.
Free Press staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this report.
Contact Clara Hendrickson: [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer says Biden campaign must earn every vote in Michigan