Who is Gretchen Whitmer?

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday during her fourth State of the State address said that she wants to “keep delivering on the kitchen-table issues” such as jobs, schools, clean water and thriving small businesses.

Delivering the address on Michigan’s 185th birthday at Detroit Diesel, Whitmer started by honouring the victims of the Oxford High School shooting. 

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“After a polar vortex, pandemic, national recession, multiple 500-year flooding events, a kidnapping and murder plot, I’ve been asked—how the heck do I keep doing this? My answer is simple. I show up for every Michigan family. I want to keep delivering on the kitchen-table issues. On a personal level: I want my girls to see their mom stand her ground and live her values even through unexpected challenges and constant threats,” she said. 

The governor also spoke about rolling back the retirement tax ‘and save 500,000 households in Michigan an average of $1,000 bucks a year’. 

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Who is Gretchen Whitmer?

A lifelong Michigander, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is an attorney, an educator, former prosecutor, State Representative, and Senator.

“But the most important title she boasts is MOM. Inspired by her family, she’s devoted her life to building a stronger Michigan for all and governed through unprecedented, colliding crises,” her office says. 

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She is married Marc Mallory and lives in Lansing with Kevin and Doug, the First Dogs of Michigan. She has two daughters. The older one, Sherry, is a student at the University of Michigan, and her younger daughter, Sydney, will be joining her sister in the fall. Her three stepsons, Alex, Mason, and Winston all live in Michigan as well.

Governor Whitmer earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree from Michigan State University.