Michigan governor rules out running in 2028 and shakes up Democratic map

Gretchen Whitmer announced that she will not be a candidate for president in 2028. This was announced by the Michigan governor during her attendance at the Mackinac Political Conference, where she spoke with journalist Russ McNamara of local media outlet WDET. Whitmer appeared to be one of the strongest potential candidates in the Democratic primaries of the next presidential cycle.

According to political analysts, the Michigan governor was one of the leading candidates for her party's 2028 nomination. Her executive profile from a key Rust Belt state made her one of the strongest choices, especially with just a few months to go before the presidential primary cycle begins.

However, Whitmer preemptively ruled herself out of the White House race in an interview with WDET: "I think there will be a robust group of people running for president. I will not be one of them in 2028."

"I want to have impact. I want to do good work, but I'm also looking forward to taking a little bit of a break and thinking about it, not jumping right into something. (...) That’s the advice everyone says, take a little bit of time. And so that’s what I’m going to do," she added.

In addition to Whitmer, the other potential Democratic presidential candidates are as follows: Gavin Newsom, governor of California; Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania; Kamala Harris, former vice president and 2024 nominee; JB Pritzker, governor of Illinois; Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to Barack Obama and former mayor of Chicago; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, member of the House of Representatives; Pete Buttigieg, former secretary of transportation; Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky; and Jon Ossoff, senator from Georgia.

Whitmer was elected governor of Michigan in 2018 and then in 2022, so she is transitioning to her last term, which will end in January 2027.

In 2020, she was among the finalists to be Joe Biden's running mate. As recently reported by The Atlantic, Whitmer was the candidate Biden "wanted" to choose. However, after the Black Lives Matter protests, he ended up going with Kamala Harris, then a senator from California.