Gretchen Whitmer

Gretchen Whitmer
Whitmer in 2024
49th Governor of Michigan
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2019
Lieutenant	Garlin Gilchrist
Preceded by	Rick Snyder
Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office January 21, 2021 Serving with Tammy Duckworth, Ken Martin and Henry R. Muñoz III
Chair	Jaime Harrison
Preceded by	Grace Meng
Prosecuting Attorney of Ingham County
In office July 21, 2016 – December 31, 2016
Preceded by	Stuart Dunnings III
Succeeded by	Carol Siemon
Minority Leader of the Michigan Senate
In office January 1, 2011 – January 1, 2015
Deputy	Steve Bieda
Preceded by	Mike Prusi
Succeeded by	Jim Ananich
Member of the Michigan Senate from the 23rd district
In office March 21, 2006 – January 1, 2015
Preceded by	Virgil Bernero
Succeeded by	Curtis Hertel Jr.
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
In office January 1, 2003 – March 21, 2006
Preceded by	Michael C. Murphy
Succeeded by	Mark Meadows
Constituency	69th district
In office January 1, 2001 – January 1, 2003
Preceded by	Laura Baird
Succeeded by	Judy Emmons
Constituency	70th district
Chair of the East Lansing Transportation Commission
In office 1999–2000
Personal details
Born	Gretchen Esther Whitmer (1971-08-23) August 23, 1971 (age 52) Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Gary Shrewsbury ​ (divorced)​ Marc Mallory ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	2
Residence	Governor's Mansion
Education	Michigan State University (BA, JD)
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Gretchen Esther Whitmer (born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.

Whitmer was born and raised in Michigan. She is a graduate of Forest Hills Central High School, Michigan State University, and the Detroit College of Law. Her political career began in 2000 when she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. In 2006, she became a state senator, a position she kept until 2015. She was the Senate's first female Democratic leader from 2011 to 2015. In 2013, Whitmer gained national attention for a floor speech during a debate on abortion in which she shared her experience of being sexually assaulted. For six months in 2016, she was the prosecutor for Ingham County. Whitmer was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee and state attorney general Bill Schuette.

As governor, Whitmer has focused on healthcare and infrastructure legislation. In February 2020, she was selected to give the Democratic response to then President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union Address. On October 8,^[1] the Federal Bureau of Investigation thwarted a militia group's kidnapping plot against Whitmer.^[2] Since January 2021, Whitmer has served as one of the vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee. She was reelected governor in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Tudor Dixon.