LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer stood in the House Chamber of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday night to give her seventh State of the State address. She spoke in front of a Democratic-led Senate, a Republican-led House, a Democratic-led state Supreme Court, cabinet members, state officials and other guests.
The governor ditched her signature Barbie fuchsia outfit and although she struck a more professional note than last year’s speech that blended policy with ’80’s pop culture and football references, she couldn’t resist her trademark swearing. Just like in 2024, she dropped “hell” once and “damn” twice – her go-to curse words in speeches and on social media.
Whitmer tried to strike a pragmatic and bipartisan tone.
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During her State of the State address, Whitmer repeatedly stressed the need for bipartisan collaboration, whether with the Michigan House or even with President Donald Trump, saying she hoped to find “common ground” with him. Her speech was peppered with bipartisan buzzwords and phrases, including: “work together,” “move forward together and get things done,” “government means you work with anyone to get things done,” “we can work through hard problems to deliver real solutions for Michigan,” “let’s work across the aisle,” and “we must all compromise.”
Republicans in the chamber weren’t exactly sold on her sudden embrace of “Republicanism” or her newfound calls for unity.
Republicans call out Whitmer’s political theater.
Speaker Pro Tem Rachelle Smit (R-Martin) said, “All she’s doing is playing a part. She’s been governor for six years; the only thing she’s successfully led is her social media team.”
State Rep. Jennifer Wortz (R-Quincy) said, “Masquerading as a partial conservative in one speech won’t undo the six years of damage the governor has inflicted on our state. After hanging out with President Trump, Gov. Whitmer has been trying to play up her new persona as a conservative policymaker. I hope her shifting political outlook is genuine, but she needs to follow through with real action to help Republicans bring our state back from the brink.”
While Whitmer may be trying to rebrand herself as a conservative-friendly leader, her record tells a different story. Lost in the coverage of Whitmer’s speech is her press release statement, boasting that she signed a record 1,500 bills into law. That’s hardly a nod to the Republican values of limited government and individual liberty. With that level of legislative expansion, it makes it nearly impossible for businesses and individuals to thrive under an ever-growing web of regulations.
Whitmer talks surplus, unity, and old promises.
After giving thanks to a laundry list of people and shouting out props to outgoing Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, Whitmer got into the nuts and bolts of her speech. While admitting to a $1 billion surplus in the state’s coffers, she said that Michigan’s two big challenges were economic uncertainty and political division. And although Whitmer said the state of our union is “strong,” she also said we need to make it stronger and kinder. Priorities she laid out for the current year included economic development, trade with Canada and fixing the roads that she had promised to fix years ago during her first run to be governor.
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State Rep. Cam Cavitt (R-Cheboygan) said that in listening to Whitmer’s speech, it was clear what’s REALLY been on the governor’s mind. He explained, “She’s thinking about Chinese businesses, green energy activists, and her future presidential campaign. She should’ve been thinking Michigan for the past six years – maybe our roads would be in a lot better shape if she had.”
A shift in pronoun rhetoric.
Throughout her speech, Whitmer repeatedly highlighted examples of Michiganders to drive her points home. While discussing policy issues – including the gender gap in higher education – she used 58 pronouns. That’s a stark contrast to her past rhetoric, like calling women “menstruating people” in 2022, and her party’s ongoing fixation with rewriting gendered language, including the Wisconsin governor who wants to change “man/woman” to “person” and the word “mom” to “inseminated person” in his state’s budget proposal.
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Meanwhile, while Whitmer has been busy touting bipartisanship and fixing Michigan’s problems, MIRS reported on Monday that about 200 wealthy progressives, including a group called the “Patriotic Millionaires” said that Whitmer had “disqualified herself” from getting the next Democratic Party presidential nomination by signing the bipartisan SB 8, the bill that retains the tipped wage in Michigan.
The bill raises the minimum wage to $15 by 2027, with annual inflation adjustments. It also expands paid leave use, bans requiring workers to find replacements for sick time, and keeps the tipped wage, increasing it to 50% of the minimum wage by 2031.
Whitmer had said in a statement when she signed the legislation, “This commonsense compromise was made possible by the Republicans and Democrats who worked together to forge a fair, bipartisan deal. I hope we can build on this momentum to keep passing commonsense, bipartisan legislation that makes a real difference in people’s lives.”
However, progressives called Whitmer’s signing of the legislation a “betrayal” of working-class voters.
Erica Payne, the founder of Patriotic Millionaire said, “Make no mistake: if Gretchen Whitmer runs for president after what she did today, she will lose. In November, working people just gave the electoral middle finger to Democrats. Gretchen Whitmer’s decision in this matter makes it abundantly clear why voters don’t trust – and shouldn’t trust – Democrats. Her failure to raise and fortify the wage floor will trap workers in a cycle of poverty that undermines the American economy and threatens the foundation of democratic capitalism for us all.”
Emmy-winning filmmaker Abigail Disney echoed the criticism, saying, “Once again, Democrats have thrown working people under the bus, this time in Michigan under the stewardship of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. It doesn’t matter that only a few Democrats went along with this effort to tank the Court- ordered phaseout of the state’s sub-minimum wage for tipped workers. In its quest to rebrand itself and win back the working-class vote, Democrats needed to present a unified front in this pivotal moment in Michigan – and anything less than that, which this is, should be taken as an abysmal failure.”
