Today, MIGOP launched the party’s “earliest ads ever” against Governor Whitmer in a blitz going up on TV and digital platforms. The six-figure ad buy brings the amount of money spent leveling false attacks on Whitmer’s leadership to over $2.5 million since the start of the 2022 cycle.
The 60-second spot is rife with blatant inaccuracies and hyperpartisan attacks. Here’s the truth:
Governor Whitmer’s COVID-19 Response Saved Lives and Protected Small Businesses
Data from AARP, the New York Times, and the University of Michigan’s Center for Health and Research Transformation as well as multiple studies showed that Governor Whitmer’s decisive actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic saved lives, and long-term care facility experts and senior advocates agree that she prioritized keeping seniors safe. Republicans’ attacks on Governor Whitmer about nursing homes have been repeatedly debunked.
Governor Whitmer launched 23 economic relief programs that provided over $240 million to small businesses across the state including her Small Business Survival Grant program that saved over 52,000 jobs statewide. Thanks to Whitmer’s strategic investments into small businesses when they needed it most, Michigan is also competitive nationally and was ranked as a top ten state for new business creation.
Governor Whitmer Has Worked To Secure Record Investments in Water Infrastructure and is Replacing Every Lead Service Line Benton Harbor
Whitmer announced her MI Clean Water plan that included $500 million for water infrastructure investments across the state. Gov. Whitmer announced expansions of her MI Clean Water Plan that called for investing hundreds of millions in replacing lead pipes throughout the state. Since then, she’s worked to secure millions in funding and announced plans to replace every lead service line in Benton Harbor within 18 months. Work on replacing pipes began in November 2021 and over 400 pipes were replaced by January 2022.
Governor Whitmer Has Made Strategic, Historic Investments In Public Education and Worked Across the Aisle to Get Kids Back into Schools
This year, Governor Whitmer secured a bipartisan $17.1 billion dollar public education budget that completely closed a decades-long state funding gap between school districts and is the “largest investment in PreK-12 schools in state history” — all without raising taxes.
Governor Whitmer worked with Republicans in the Legislature to pass a bipartisan deal that encouraged schools to move to in-person instruction and provided resources to help get students back into classrooms.
Governor Whitmer Will Work With Anyone To Keep Michigan Competitive Through Its Economic Recovery
Staying above the partisan fray, Governor Whitmer guided Michigan to the strong economic recovery working families have seen all year. For the second quarter of the year, the state’s economy grew at such a rapid clip that it was the “third highest in the nation and the best in the Midwest.” In July, Michigan ranked #2 for recovering from COVID-19 economic losses.
Governor Whitmer has not only put Michigan back on the map for the auto industry, but the future of it as well. Last year, on top of announcing major multi-million dollar investments in several manufacturing plants across the state, GM chose a plant in Detroit to convert to its first all-electric vehicle assembly line. Since taking office, she has created 16,000 new auto jobs and added 145,000 new jobs across all industries in 2021.
Governor Whitmer Has Ensured Efforts to Keep Our Communities Safe Stay Well-Funded
Governor Whitmer has been working with the state legislature to secure additional law enforcement funding and proposed a $75 million plan to hire more police and fund programs to fight violent crime, including $32 million to recruit and train new police officers, $30 million in violence prevention measures, and $6.3 million to address court backlogs.
And over her first term, Whitmer secured a total of $1.4 billion for local municipalities to fund local police and emergency services to keep our neighborhoods safe.
When the pandemic put the biggest strain on our first-responders and local officers, Governor Whitmer also delivered $40 million in COVID-19 hazard pay to help them be “better equipped to fight crime today and have the resources to fight crime tomorrow.”
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“The MIGOP can hurl whatever desperate attacks they want as early as they want. It will do little to distract Michiganders from the truth of Governor Whitmer’s consistently strong record in keeping Michiganders first in the key areas that impact them most. That’s why even after months of this cycle have gone by, all gubernatorial candidates waging a challenge against her still can’t manage to come up with solutions that can hold a candle to her leadership.”
