LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic candidate for Michigan governor, has chosen a Detroit native as her running mate.
Whitmer introduced her pick, Garlin Gilchrist II,Monday morning in Lansing.
He previously worked for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and President Barack Obama's campaign. He also ran for Detroit city clerk in 2017, coming in second to the incumbent.
“He knows Michigan is a great place and he’s proud to be from our state, but like me, we both look around at the Michigan in which our kids are growing up. And it does not live up to the one that we think of when we talk of our pride,” Whitmer said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,“ she added.
The backdrop for the announcement was a crumbling Lansing road where a chalk-written message of “Fix the Damn Roads” was scrawled.
“We have so many infrastructure problems and challenges we need to fix, like these roads, like our water system, like our schools, making sure they’re up to date,” Gilchrist said, pointing to the road. “I don’t want to be concerned that the glass of water I give my son or daughter is going to make them sick.”
Gilchrist, 35, graduated from Farmington High School before attending the University of Michigan, where he says he studied computer engineering and computer science.