Michigan governor Whitmer wins re-election in midterm election

Gretchen Whitmer, governor of US State of Michigan has won a re-election bid in midterm election.

She defeated Republican challenger, Tudor Dixon in one of the nation’s most important political battleground states.

Whitmer won a second term , according to CNN’s projection after a campaign that focused largely on her support for abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

She successfully sued to block the enforcement of Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, and also championed a citizens’ initiative on this fall’s ballot that would amend the state’s constitution to guarantee abortion rights.

Her victory cements Whitmer’s place — two years after she was a finalist for President Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick — as a leading figure within the Democratic Party moving forward.

And it demonstrates the limits of voters’ willingness to punish officials in competitive states who took strict measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, including school and business closures.