LANSING, MI — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will chronicle her meteoric rise in Democratic politics in a book due out this summer, a move that will undoubtedly fuel new speculation about her potential presidential ambitions.
“True Gretch” is scheduled for release on July 9, and a book announcement to The Associated Press promises insights into Whitmer’s five-year term as governor of Michigan. It includes a behind-the-scenes look at how she weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, became the target of a kidnapping scheme and continually clashed with former President Donald Trump.
The book will also highlight her role in the 2022 midterm elections, when Michigan voters enshrined abortion rights in the state Constitution through a ballot initiative. Democrats also gained full control of Michigan’s state government that year for the first time in four decades.
Whitmer, co-chair of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, has emerged as one of the Democratic party’s top stars and is often mentioned as a potential candidate for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination.
“Right now, our world is starving for compassion, empathy, big ideas and the courage to get things done,” Whitmer said in the statement announcing her book. “I hope this book will help you find the good and use it to make a difference. I will join you in doing the same.”
Whitmer, a lawyer turned state lawmaker, was first elected governor in 2018 after running a campaign centered on a promise to “fix the damn roads.”
Shortly into her first term, as the pandemic began, she implemented some of the nation’s most restrictive stay-at-home orders, making her the constant target of right-wing vitriol. Thousands of people came to the Capitol with guns in 2020 as Trump egged them on, tweeting “Liberate Michigan” and calling Whitmer “the woman from Michigan.”
Her battles with Trump, who this week called Whitmer “radical” and a “terrible governor” during a visit to Michigan, helped raise her national profile. She delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020 and was considered a potential vice president for Biden later that year.
Whitmer won reelection in 2022 by more than 10%. Her party also flipped the House of Representatives and the Senate, allowing them to reverse decades of Republican policies and quickly implement a Democratic agenda over the past 15 months.
Whitmer’s motto in politics, she writes in the book, is “get sh— done.”
The book’s publication will undoubtedly fuel speculation that Whitmer is seeking higher office when her limited term as Michigan governor ends at the end of 2026, though she previously told the AP that she has “no interest in going to D.C. ”
Both Simon & Schuster and the governor’s office declined to comment on the financial compensation she received for the book. A spokesperson for Simon & Schuster added: “It is our policy not to comment on the financial aspects of a book deal.”
Whitmer signed new financial disclosure laws in December that require state officials, including the governor, to annually file reports showing sources of income, property and other assets worth more than $1,000 and liabilities worth more than $10,000 to turn out. This year the disclosures must take place on April 15 and relate to the previous calendar year.
“State government must be open, transparent, and accountable to the people it serves,” Whitmer said in a statement at the time of the signing.
Whitmer will donate net proceeds from the publication of her book throughout her term as governor to the Capital Region Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that leads philanthropic solutions to help improve communities in central Michigan, the news release said.