Gretchen Whitmer is the Governor of Michigan. She assumed office on January 1, 2019. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027. Before being elected governor, Whitmer served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and the Michigan State Senate from 2006 to 2015. In 2011, she became the Democratic minority leader in the state Senate, marking the first time a woman led a caucus in the chamber. After leaving the legislature in 2014 due to term limits, she worked as the Ingham County prosecutor in 2016. Whitmer's gubernatorial campaigns focused on infrastructure, education, and the environment. During her first inauguration speech, Whitmer said, "Let's fix our roads, and be the state that's not paralyzed by partisanship, but works together. And create the blueprint for rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure. Let's show the rest of the country how to solve America's literacy crisis, and show them what good government actually looks like." Whitmer's election in 2018 resulted in Michigan gaining a divided government after seven years of a Republican trifecta. In 2022, Whitmer was re-elected and both chambers of the state legislature flipped from Republican to Democratic, resulting in the first Democratic trifecta in the state since 1983. The Associated Press' Steve Karnowski and Joey Cappelletti wrote, "Gun safety packages, expanded voting rights, free meals for all students, and increased protections for abortion rights and LGTBQ+ people were just some of pent-up policy proposals that [..] Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law within months under the new legislative majorities." In 2024, Republicans gained control of the Michigan House of Representatives, returning Michigan to a divided government.
