(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/29/2024) For the first time during her six-year tenure, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made endorsements in two state House special elections, giving her stamp of approval to Macomb County Commissioner Mai Xiong in the 13th District and City Council President Pro Tempore Andrea Rutkowski in the 25th.
Whitmer endorsed both Xiong and Rutkowski ahead of the Jan. 30 primary.
The decision has since drawn criticism from their opponents, who say endorsing in a primary is a “big no-no,” but several political pundits say Whitmer’s choice is likely to be soon forgotten anyways.
Former Rep. Lamar Lemmons III, who announced as a candidate in the 13th District, said it felt like “I’m working against myself,” when asked about the endorsement. Lemmons was defeated by Xiong on Tuesday, when she received 80 percent of the vote.
On the MIRS Monday podcast two weeks ago, Lemmons said primary endorsements force “alliances that would not necessarily normally take place when you are trying to pick and choose among your party members who would be the individuals best suited to provide the check and balance that the state Legislature is supposed to do.”
He said he believes the endorsement establishes a precedent that “will actually blow up in the future” when its referenced later on as a moment where the Governor “weighed in and stacked the deck, and despite that, she very well may not prevail.”
In the 25th District, that was exactly the case. Rutkowski was beaten by City Council member Peter Herzberg by nearly 6 percentage points.
When asked about the Governor endorsing in his primary, Herzberg said he was surprised that she made that decision.
“I know that’s not common,” he said. “It’s looked down upon, actually, from what I’ve heard.”
In conversations with several team members from former Govs. Jennifer Granholm and Rick Snyder's administrations, many could not remember or confirm that prior governors had endorsed in a legislative primary.
The Ballenger Report Editor Bill Ballenger said it’s not totally unprecedented, but it is infrequent.
He referenced several instances where former governors endorsed early on, mostly to make a statement, but “it was very rare.”
There were governors who did try and tip the scales behind the scenes, he said, even trying to pressure certain people out of certain races, but none of them came out publicly and announced an endorsement of a candidate in the primary.
Ballenger said that in Whitmer’s case, a public endorsement “backfired,” despite Rutkowski having a long list of endorsements and raising the most money ahead of the election.
“If she hoped to be able to claim, in terms of her national image or even her state image, that she's some kind of miracle worker or she could get people elected . . . well, it just didn't work,” Ballenger said.
He added that Whitmer shouldn’t take much credit for Xiong’s win either, as she “would have won anyway.”
When asked about potential reasons why Whitmer made a public endorsement, Ballenger said it could be one of three things.
First, it could be that she wanted to impress the public, political establishment and the news media that she could make the difference with her endorsement.
“Both of these races are supposedly in districts where the Democrats are overwhelmingly the favorites and whoever wins the primaries is going to be elected,” he said, “So, you know, it gets down to showing that you can make a difference, but you are gambling to a certain extent, because if you're wrong and your endorsed candidate does not win, it's kind of a blot on your record.”
Ballenger said an endorsement could also be a way to provide support to a Democrat now that could translate into votes on tough legislation later on.
“She wants them to feel grateful to her if they get in office,” he said.
Or third, Ballenger said this speculation could be cynicism in politics, and maybe the Governor just looked at all the candidates and decided she really resonated with some of them.
Regardless, Ballenger said picking wrong was a “stumble on the part of the Governor, and it’s not going to help her now.”
Herzberg agreed that he “wasn’t too happy with her (Whitmer’s) pick.
“I’ve worked with Andrea on council for a few years now,” he said, “and I just was kind of shocked that was her choice.”
But when asked about his potential to oppose Whitmer or use that endorsement as leverage later on, Herzberg said, “No, I plan on working with the Governor and with the Dems 100 percent.”
Ballenger said that despite the conversations now, it’s unlikely the decision will be remembered or come back to haunt her.
And Adrian Hemond, CEO of Grassroots Midwest, said he feels the endorsements will be inconsequential in the long term because such a low percentage of the voters in the two districts even knew that there was an election going on.
In the 13th District, five Detroit precincts saw one voter all day, and Westland saw only 12.91 percent voter turnout.
The only people that came out and voted are the people that always come out and vote, Hemond said.
