Gretchen Whitmer is seeking your vote to be the next Governor of Michigan. This is the candidate's submission to the 2018 WEMU Soapbox Summer.
Hi there. This is Gretchen Whitmer, I am running for governor, and the election is on August 7th. I’m running for governor because I love the state of Michigan. I am proud to be a Michigander. But I look around at the Michigan in which we all live, in which my kids are growing up, and it does not live up to the Michigan I think of when I talk about my Michigan pride.
There was a time when people used to move from around the world to our state for opportunity. A good job that you could raise a family on and retire with dignity. Schools in every community that were great, and prepared our kids for life. Clean water. As the Great Lakes State, you knew you could turn on that tap and bathe your kids, and give them a glass at the dinner table. And safe roads. And on all four of these measurements, we are falling behind. We deserve better. This is not just another election, this is about our future.
When I graduated from Michigan State, I stayed here in Michigan because I knew I wanted to be near my family. I never thought about living anywhere else. But our leaders have been failing us. It is time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. To fix the damn roads. To ensure every one of us has a path to a high wage job. That means a debt free community college degree, or an affordable four-year degree, or a path into the skilled trades.
There is honor and security in every one of those paths, and every Michigander deserves a path. And it’s time to get our water cleaned up. Whether it is the threat to the Straits of Mackinac that Line 5 poses, or Nestle that is abusing our water here in Michigan, or people in the city of Flint and communities across Michigan that don’t have access to clean drinking water. And we’re going to repeal the retirement tax that so many of our seniors are burdened by. I negotiated Medicaid expansion. We have 680,000 Michiganders who got coverage because of that work, but we’ve got more work to do. Affordable healthcare, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, and protecting people with pre-existing conditions.
This is all a part of my plan to make Michigan the state where our kids stay, our families thrive, and other people come to for opportunity. I hope you’ll check out my website at GretchenWhitmer.com. Get involved. Stay involved. And let’s set the agenda together, and get the Michigan that we deserve.