Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
George W. Romney Building
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Dear Gov. Whitmer:
On a cold, late Thursday afternoon, when it looked like the old Cheboygan Dam was going to overflow, you stood in a red county with peers like Sen. John Damoose, a Harbor Springs Republican, and calmed anxious citizens, though waters posed danger at that very moment.
You deferred to Department of Natural Resources Director Scott Bowen for detailed answers. Bowen has served under Michigan Democratic and Republican executives. This is secure, bipartisan leadership. We needed it now more than ever in a divided political environment when Ds and Rs sometimes publicly avoid each other like a vampire shuns the light. But as you have reminded Michiganders often, “We can do hard things together.”
In January, during your State of the State address, you highlighted wins, challenges and set the table for the next governor. Most importantly, you reinforced it by declaring a farewell roadshow — perhaps even beyond Michigan’s borders. It is not lost on your constituents that this is a critical mid-term election year, quickly followed by one of the most consequential presidential races of our lifetime. A practical, moderate, twice-elected governor of an important Midwestern swing state is prepared for national office, many believe.
I digress.
I am writing to talk about the people you’ll encounter in places beyond Lansing this year when you illuminate your State of the State address in person. I’ve met a few in my recent adventures from places like Marshall, Coldwater, Union City, Cheboygan, Holland, Petoskey and dozens of communities that do not always make the headlines but carry the weight of Michigan every day.Full disclosure: I’m a Michigan newbie who shares small-town kinship with these folks, and I know what it’s like to want more from leadership when your town does not wield as much power as bigger cities.
When I was the editorial page editor at my north Louisiana hometown newspaper, then-Gov. Mike Foster (rest in peace) rarely, if ever, came north.
It’s not hard to reach consensus on your core priorities — housing, literacy, health care costs, jobs and infrastructure. However, working to translate what those policies feel like on Main Street and around the kitchen table is a delicate, but necessary, dance.On the ground, breadwinners are hoping the price of gas comes down because of a 130-mile round-trip commute from Flint to Livonia every day. It is a grocery bill that keeps changing week-to-week, forcing families to stick to their planned budget because there is no wiggle room.
Governor, as you hit the road and share your legacy, here are a few thoughts.
Speak plainly about costs. If we are honest, Washington policies are hurting us, too. You told us the president’s tariffs translate to over $1,000 more tax on Michiganders. We do not expect easy answers, but we do expect honesty about what is driving these pressures and what can be done at the state level to ease them.
Make rural housing a priority, not a footnote. Incentives for builders are a start, but they must work in small towns, not just cities, where population density equates to more business. We need housing that teachers, nurses, factory workers and young families can afford — with policies that help communities grow without losing their character.
We are not reading about shortages; we are living them. Some communities, like Coldwater, report a housing shortage. Employers are hiring, but workers can’t find a place to live. You said in your State of the State speech that for the first time since the 1990s more people moved into Michigan than out between July 2024 and 2025. That is promising. But a lack of housing (or increasingly expensive housing) is a problem if employers are hiring and new families are having a hard time finding an affordable place to live.
Meet the people where they are on education. Many Michiganians were surprised to learn that students here ranked 44th in the nation for fourth-grade reading on the 2024 “Nation’s Report Card.” You have called literacy a top priority during your final year in office. Good. If students cannot read, they cannot learn. And if they cannot learn, that sound you hear is our collective future falling off a cliff.
Your administration’s commitment to free preschool and meals for all Michigan four-year-olds is a data-driven solution that will drive better long-term education outcomes. Michigan is not doing that well in math and science, either. So, we need to embrace creative solutions to ensure education produces next-generation leaders. That means support for traditional public schools without rejecting school choice options. My mom taught in public schools for 25 years. I remain an advocate, but the state cannot rigidly embrace learning that no longer works.
Two of my own children with special needs attended non-public schools because their local public school system did not accommodate their learning needs. The education choices most parents make are not ideological; they are just trying to give their kids the best chance to succeed. Continue to explore project-based learning, online options, competency-based education, seat-time flexibility, more career and technical specialization and other innovative approaches to education.Ensure growth and progress decisions include local input at the outset. Progress is inevitable. It is in Marshall, where farmland is giving way to an EV battery manufacturing plant and global suppliers. But citizens felt unheard by officials who made the deals.
By some estimates, Michigan has over 50 operating data centers with more planned for 2027. Family farmers wonder if they are the last generation who will live off the land. In Michigan, the average farmer is 56.5 years old. There are pressures on prices, too. Feed, fertilizer and diesel costs are up. Folks understand the promise of jobs and investment, but they also feel the loss of something harder to measure — a way of life, a sense of place. Progress is inevitable, they know. But they are asking leaders to recognize its cost.
Be transparent about taxes and tradeoffs. Taxpayers understand that government requires revenue. However, too often costs are layered in ways that feel disconnected from daily life. Whether those pressures originate in Washington or Lansing, people need clarity — and a willingness to fight for policies that don’t leave rural communities carrying more than their share.This is a request for alignment, not a list of complaints.
Gov. Whitmer, you have a little under eight months left before your second term ends. It is not always easy to translate the needs of the rural voter into policy, particularly as their views may not be as progressive as yours. But their voices, while sometimes quieter, carry much weight.
Finally, as you make policy decisions, remember the Family Dollar cashier in Union City, the plant pharmacist in Marshall, the housing developer in Coldwater and the soybean farmer in Mason.
All are part of Michigan’s collective village that can best succeed by moving forward together, doing hard things.
Kind regards,Byron
Byron McCauley is a regional columnist for USA Today Co. Email: bmccauley@usatodayco.com. Call or text him at (513) 504-8915. This column originally ran in The Holland Sentinel.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Here’s what rural Michigan needs from Gov. Whitmer now | Opinion
Reporting by Byron McCauley, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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