Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm is weighing in on Michigan’s contentious Democratic U.S. Senate primary, backing Rep. Haley Stevens in the contest.
Granholm, the state’s first female governor who served two terms from 2003 to 2011, has joined a cadre of establishment Democratic politicians backing Stevens against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health chief.
Granholm said her relationship with Stevens dates back to the 2009, when Stevens served as chief of staff to then-President Barack Obama’s auto task force that crafted the federal government’s rescue of two of Detroit’s bankrupt automakers, General Motors and Chrysler.
“She was totally committed back then, super smart, I was really impressed by her,” Granholm said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “Then, of course, when she was elected to Congress, she’s been on the front lines with respect to manufacturing in the United States, in Michigan, supporting the auto industry.”
“I love her fierce determination to get manufacturing in the United States and to support all of that,” Granholm added.
Granholm said Stevens remained a “great ally” when Granholm was President Joe Biden’s energy secretary.
“I just really like her and I think she’ll be an excellent senator for Michigan and for the country,” Granholm told The Detroit News.
Granholm is the second former Democratic governor of Michigan to back Stevens in the race. Former Gov. Jim Blanchard, who was the state’s chief executive in the 1980s, also has endorsed her.
“Jennifer Granholm has been a champion for Michigan workers her entire career. She’s a trailblazer who created jobs, protected our Great Lakes and freshwater, and fought for our auto and manufacturing industry,” Stevens said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to have her by my side in this campaign as I take on the damage Donald Trump is doing to our state and our workers, and deliver for Michigan as our next senator.”
Stevens also has snagged the support of former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, former U.S. Reps. Brenda Lawrence and Mark Schauer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Colleen Ochoa Peters, the wife of outgoing U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
Gary Peters chose not to seek a third term this year. So far, he has remained neutral in the Democratic primary.
McMorrow’s supporters include Granholm’s lieutenant governor, John Cherry Jr., as well as 11 current state lawmakers and four U.S. senators, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
El-Sayed has his own cadre of supporters in the progressive movement, including Sen. Bernie Sanders; U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ro Khanna; former Michigan congressmen Andy Levin; and David Bonior, as well as his former boss, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
The winner of the Aug. 4 Democratic primary likely will face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in what’s expected to be one of the hottest Senate races in the country.
clivengood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Granholm backs Stevens in Michigan’s contested U.S. Senate primary
Reporting by Chad Livengood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
