Gretchen Esther Whitmer is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.

Whitmer was born and raised in Michigan. She is a graduate of Forest Hills Central High School, Michigan State University, and the Detroit College of Law. She ran unsuccessfully for the state House of Representatives in the 1990s.