Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is reportedly under pressure to make an endorsement ahead of her state’s presidential primary next week.
“A lot of things have changed in the last 72 hours,” Whitmer told reporters Wednesday morning. “If I get involved, you’ll probably hear from me in short order.”
While Whitmer previously said she would remain neutral, Super Tuesday voting narrowed down the race to a contest between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Biden’s moderate rivals have all dropped out of the race and rallied behind the vice president within the last 72 hours.
Plus, Biden endorsed Whitmer’s 2018 gubernatorial bid and could have her on a shortlist of possible running mates, according to The Washington Post.
“This roll-up of endorsements that Vice President Biden had going into Super Tuesday, and the effectiveness and power of those endorsements, may very well tilt Gov. Whitmer into changing her perspective,” Mario Morrow, a Detroit-based political consultant, told the Detroit Free Press.
Whitmer could follow the path of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who dropped out of the race Monday, promptly endorsed Biden, and is now being credited with delivering her home state to the former vice president. Like Whitmer, Klobuchar is considered a possible Biden running mate.
The first-term governor was selected to deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this year, further cementing her status as a rising star in the party.
Sanders narrowly defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Michigan Democratic primary despite pollsters predicting he would lose by upwards of 20 points. With that in mind, a Detroit News poll released Tuesday had Biden winning the Michigan Democratic primary by seven percentage points over Sanders.
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm endorsed Biden during an appearance Wednesday morning on CNN.
“I had been helping Joe Biden prepare in the debates previously and, no surprise, I am endorsing Joe Biden,” she said. “Who was the person inside the Obama administration to champion saving the auto industry and the million jobs that are attached to it in the industrial Midwest? It was Joe Biden.”
My endorsement of @JoeBiden on @CNN this morning: pic.twitter.com/YNRZ3XeZiD
— Jennifer Granholm (@JenGranholm) March 4, 2020
After his Super Tuesday comeback, Biden now leads the delegate count over Sanders 513 to 461. Biden is reportedly expected to visit Michigan Monday, the day before the state’s primary.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
