Unable To Recruit An Alternative Candidate, Michigan Dems Reluctantly Realize They Are Stuck With Gretchen Whitmer

Unable to find an alternative candidate to run for governor, Michigan Democrats appear ready to finally accept that they are stuck with Gretchen Whitmer. With reports that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has been working with labor leaders as part of a “backdoor” campaign to find a new candidate amid concerns that Whitmer “can’t win a statewide election,” Detroit Free Press Columnist Nancy Kaffer writes that Democrats acknowledge her inability to “articulate a positive message that connects with voters” but claim at this point they “just need to roll with” her as the nominee.

Running a lackluster campaign that has failed to catch fire, Whitmer has embraced failed Granholm-style policies that would take the state backwards. As her campaign continues to struggle, Michigan Democrats are realizing their hopes of winning in November are quickly fading.

Nancy Kaffer writes in the Detroit Free Press:

“Less than eight months out from the August party primaries, efforts to recruit another candidate by Dems concerned Whitmer can’t win a statewide election are reportedly ongoing.  And a detailed report by Bridge Magazine suggests that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his supporters in UAW are leading the effort…

…many are lukewarm, unsure that Whitmer can deliver a statewide win. They’re concerned that the campaign she’s running isn’t strong enough, that she has no real connection to the city of Detroit, and that she has yet to articulate a positive message that connects with voters…

‘Democrats are at a tipping point,’ added another Democratic insider. ‘Someone significant needs to step up, or they need to get on board.’

‘It’s too late,’ one longtime Detroit Democrat said. ‘She’s our candidate, and we just need to roll with it.’”