(WWJ) Talk had grown quiet amid the pandemic about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's chances of being tapped as a running mate to presidential candidate Joe Biden, but she's back in the national spotlight.
WWJ's Tim Skubick reports the Biden campaign has been reaching out to local chapters of the UAW, AFL-CIO and the Teamsters to discuss their views on Whitmer. That presumably means she's still being vetted for the role.
Front runners as Biden running mates are considered to be Sen. Kamala Harris and Iraq veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, but Skubick reports if Whitmer were to be tapped, Michigan's Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist would take the reigns of state government. He would also become the state's first Black governor.
Biden is expected to announce his choice next week.
For her part, Whitmer laughed last week when WWJ's Roberta Jasina asked if she wanted to become vice president and said Michigan is where she wants to be.
"No, I love where I am!" Whitmer said. "Even on the hardest days, I am grateful to be the governor of this state. I love the state of Michigan. I'm proud to be here."
The governor has faced a tough road through the COVID crisis with court challenges over her authority to shut down government, armed protests in Lansing that drew national attention and recall efforts. She sparred with Donald Trump over what she believed was a lackluster federal response to the coronavirus crisis. He called her "that woman from Michigan."
Whitmer stood strong against Trump and vs. Republicans fighting hard to fully reopen the state while COVID cases were rising, earning a rap song in her honor and the moniker "Big Gretch."
