LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she will not be a candidate for president in 2028.
Whitmer told WJBK-TV (Fox 2 Detroit) on Mackinac Island that she thinks there will be “a robust group of people running for president,” but “I will not be one of them in 2028,” the TV station reported May 28.
Whitmer has not publicly expressed strong interest in running for president in 2028 or any time in the future, despite her name being repeatedly floated, but her statement to Fox 2 is the most definitive to date with respect to 2028, when Republican President Donald Trump will be term-limited.
Interviewed onstage by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan CEO Tricia Keith after a speech at Mackinac Policy Conference, Whitmer walked back a definitive statement she gave to WJBK-TV (Fox 2 Detroit) earlier. Onstage, Whitmer said she needed to “correct the record on a couple fronts,” saying she was asked about 2028 and said she wasn’t making plans. But, she said, “I never thought I’d run for governor so I guess I should know better to say never say never.”
Under Michigan term limits, Whitmer can’t run again for governor when her second four-year term expires at the end of 2026.
“I want to have impact,” Whitmer told Fox 2 about her future plans. “I want to do good work, but I’m also looking forward to taking a little bit of a break and thinking about it, not jumping right into something.”
(This article was updated with additional information.)
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she won’t run for president in 2028
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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