by Anna Clark

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The door is closing on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s chance to fulfill many of her campaign promises after Democrats couldn’t coalesce around a legislative agenda in the final days of 2024.

Michigan Democrats led all branches of government for the past two years, for the first time in about four decades, and they started with a multibillion-dollar budget surplus to boot. But the trifecta was lost after Republicans won back the state House in the fall. And, during the chaotic final session of the year, Democrats accomplished little on what Whitmer once presented as the most significant issues facing the state.

Among the bills not acted upon: ones to bring more transparency to the governor’s office and Legislature, which are now exempt from public record requests. Also dead were efforts to repeal Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law and to charge royalties to bottled water companies for extracting groundwater and invest it in infrastructure and other programs, an idea similar to what Whitmer herself once suggested. The Legislature also took no substantive action to “fix the damn roads,” as Whitmer’s famous 2018 campaign slogan put it.

“Governor Whitmer thanks our colleagues in the legislature for their efforts on behalf of their fellow Michiganders and looks forward to working alongside the incoming House,” Stacey LaRouche, Whitmer’s press secretary, said in a statement. “She will continue to work with anyone who is serious about getting things done.”

Overall, Michigan Democrats followed an active first year in leadership with a markedly more stunted one, tempered by internal conflicts and moderate policies that seemed tailored to shoring up electoral prospects. (The governor has consistently demurred when asked about her interest in running for president.)

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