Michigan's Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer (D), has endorsed Democratic candidate Joe Biden for president. A recent poll shows the former vice president maintaining a narrow lead over Sen. Sanders (D-VT) with less than a week to go before voters in the Wolverine State head to the polls.
Gov. Whitmer, a national co-chair on the Biden campaign, said the former vice president is a candidate who has always had the backs of Michiganders.
"Working families in Michigan need a president who will show up and fight for them, and Joe Biden has proven time and again that he has our backs," the governor said in a statement. "Michiganders have grit. We’re tough. We know what it’s like to be overlooked and counted out. And we know that when you get knocked down, you pick yourself up and get back to work. Joe Biden has been right there with us in the tough fights."
The first-term governor won her race by 10 percentage points in 2018, and her victory was considered a good sign for Democratic prospects in 2020. Hillary Clinton narrowly lost the state against President Trump in 2016 with fewer than 11,000 votes. Whitmer delivered the Democratic response to President Trump's State of the Union address in early Feb.
On Thursday, Gov. Whitmer told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that she would be voting for Joe Biden in Tuesday's primary election. She defended her support for the former vice president by citing Joe Biden's commitment to preserving the Affordable Care Act. The Michigan governor said the issue of healthcare is important to her and that she relates to Biden personally as both her mother and Biden's son died from the same type of brain tumor.
.@GovWhitmer joins us to discuss why she's endorsing Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/3KqHeUFdxI
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) March 5, 2020
Following a lackluster performance on Super Tuesday, a loss for Sen. Sanders in Michigan would indicate broader support and appeal for the more moderate policy proposals of Joe Biden. The Vermont senator narrowly won Michigan's Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Some 125 pledged delegates are up for grabs in Michigan on Tuesday.