Gretchen Whitmer (D) is the second woman governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm (D), the current Secretary of Energy, was the first.

No Republican woman has ever served as governor of Michigan, but the relatively unknown, Trump-endorsed Tudor Dixon would be the first if elected over incumbent Gretchen Whitmer. After winning in 2018, Governor Whitmer quickly became a star in her party, and in 2020 delivered the Democratic response to President Trump’s final State of the Union address. 

In Michigan's May primaries, 10 candidates were seeking the Republican nomination, but half were disqualified when it was discovered that their nominating petitions included tens of thousands of forged signatures. The early Republican front runner and the Republican candidate with the biggest campaign budget were among those disqualified early, and suddenly Tudor Dixon was leading a much narrower field.

With fewer dollars to spend than her opponent, Dixon is relying more heavily on earned media. It’s an incentive to be more outrageous and earn free news coverage to keep her name in front of the voters. Dixon effectively did this earlier in September when she used her address to the annual CPAC conference to make light of a 2020 plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer. In August,trial-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap.html"> two men were convicted of conspiracy in the case. 

Michigan voters are also in a unique position this year. Not only will they decide the state’s governor, they will also vote on a ballot measure which could ensure that access to abortion is protected by the state’s constitution. Governor Whitmer is a proponent of abortion access; meanwhile, Tudor Dixon has been an open opponent of abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. Democratic ad attacks have made this a central theme of the campaign because much like the Governor, Dixon has also emphasized her identity as a woman and a mother. So, what will be the outcome in this SHElection?

We hear from Simon Schuster, a senior political reporter with M Live and Jenna Bednar, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan and External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute about Michigan's governor's race.