Back in November, The Detroit News reported that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was looking far and wide for a candidate to oppose Gretchen Whitmer, a former state Senate minority leader who is the frontrunner in the Democratic primary for governor. Things don't seem to have changed much in the ensuing two months, with Bridge Magazine now writing that Duggan, United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams, and prominent Detroit pastor Wendell Anthony all asked Sen. Gary Peters to run. Bridge, a publication of a nonpartisan think-tank called Center for Michigan, also says that Democratic operatives tried to recruit Rep. Dan Kildee, who thought about running in early 2017.
Both men, however, said no, and spokespersons for Kildee and Peters each made it clear to Bridge that neither would be changing their minds. Duggan himself, meanwhile, has definitively said he won't run, and his own aide only said in response to the story that he "has had positive meetings with Gretchen Whitmer as well as other potential candidates.”
So why are Duggan and friends apparently so averse to having Whitmer as their nominee? It’s been hard to understand their reluctance, but Bridge writes that "anxiety has increased about her campaign momentum, fundraising, and name recognition,” and a few Democrats, all off the record, say they fear that Whitmer isn't going to inspire voters to show up. However, another party leader suggests that internal party tensions are to blame, saying, "There’s well-intentioned institutional Democrats, insurgent Berniecrats, and other traditional stakeholders. And it’s all colliding with fears of gender bias in getting someone to enter this race."
Bridge also notes that it's not at all uncommon for Michigan Democrats to wage these internecine fights. In 2002, some power-brokers attempted to find an alternative to Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, who ended up winning the governorship 51-47. Eight years later, there was another unsuccessful attempt to stop Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who badly lost the general. The Detroit News also says that in 2014, former United Autoworkers President Bob King wanted an alternative candidate to presumptive nominee Mark Schauer. The person King unsuccessfully tried to lure into the race was ... Gretchen Whitmer.
It's often very tough to gauge how good or bad a candidate is, especially when we still have a long way to go before the primary. It was only a few months ago that plenty of Democrats openly worried that Virginia gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam was running a dull and unfocused campaign, but Northam ended up winning decisively. In this case, it's likely that Whitmer, who has never run statewide before, does have little statewide name recognition, but that would be true of most candidates. What’s more, Whitmer hasn't started spending on paid voter contact yet, and it looks like she'll have the money to get her name out.
It's a lot harder to tell how "inspiring" Whitmer is or isn't. (Again, see Northam, Gov. Ralph.) However, there's little question that anger at Trump has inspired Democrats across the nation to turn out regardless of who their candidates are. And at a time when the #metoo movement has become a major focus in America, having a woman as Team Blue's nominee could indeed be quite inspiring.
Whitmer does face a couple of other candidates in the primary, though evidently former Detroit Health Commissioner Abdul El-Sayed and wealthy businessman Shri Thanedar don’t seem to have great appeal to Duggan & co. Republicans, meanwhile, are focused on a battle between state Attorney General Bill Schuette and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, with a couple of more minor players hovering at the edges. The candidate filing deadline is in late April.