Stuck With Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Dems Sour On Hopes For 2018 Governor’s Race

As their top recruits for governor refuse to run, Michigan Democrats are quickly souring on their chances for victory in 2018, and are now realizing they are stuck with Gretchen Whitmer as the likely gubernatorial nominee. As Nolan Finley describes today in the Detroit News, many Michigan Democrats are refusing to endorse Whitmer and are not holding out much hope that she can break away from her ties to failed ex-gov Jennifer Granholm or even offer a positive message.

The Detroit News reports:

“…despite widespread anxiety among Dems about Whitmer’s ability to win a statewide general election next fall, there doesn’t appear to be an alternative in the wings.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, who teased a run last spring during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac policy conference, said after Bernstein’s withdrawal he doesn’t see himself as a gubernatorial candidate, though he could change his mind “in the 11th hour.”

“I have a hard time supporting someone running for office who constantly berates another party or person,’ he says.

That’s a sentiment shared by many Democrats, who fret Whitmer’s meager list of accomplishments as a lawmaker, failure to offer a positive message for the state and ties to worst-ever Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm will doom her in the general balloting.

Democrats seem to have exhausted their list of big name alternatives. Yet their enthusiasm for Whitmer is still tepid.”