Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., announced their endorsement of incumbent Mayor Christopher Taylor’s reelection campaign this Thursday, ahead of the Aug. 4 Democratic primary matchup between Taylor and Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
In a post to Instagram Thursday morning, Whitmer — who has six months left in her final term as Michigan governor — wrote Taylor has worked to support her agenda and make Ann Arbor more affordable.
“As Mayor, he has delivered where it matters most: leading the effort to build more affordable housing, modernizing water infrastructure, and fixing the damn roads,” Whitmer wrote. “As costs rise across the nation, Ann Arbor needs a proven fighter who will keep working to make this city a place Michiganders can afford to call home, and that’s Mayor Taylor.”
Taylor later released a video to Instagram Thursday, featuring Slotkin announcing her support for his campaign. Slotkin was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024. and rose to national prominence after delivering a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s combative address to a joint session of Congress one month into his second term. In a post to X, Slotkin wrote Taylor has protected Ann Arbor from the Trump administration while supporting housing growth.
“Mayor Taylor has expanded access to housing, defended our workers, and fought against President Trump’s federal overreach,” Slotkin wrote. “At a time when local leadership is so important, Mayor Taylor is the right person to continue leading in Ann Arbor.”
Taylor and Rabhi faced off in three public forums this summer, which both candidates took as opportunities to highlight their campaign’s priorities.
Taylor’s administration has focused on increasing the city’s housing stock, allowing for construction of high-rise apartments downtown and duplexes and triplexes throughout the city. Rabhi also aims to increase housing in the city, but has criticized Taylor’s approach, saying he prioritizes luxury developers instead of affordable housing while residents face displacement.
Rabhi also advocates for a publicly owned energy grid to replace DTE Energy, an initiative currently collecting signatures to be put to a vote in November. Taylor has said a municipal energy grid would increase costs, and instead supports the Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility initiative to provide residents with a renewable option to supplement DTE.
Support from Whitmer and Slotkin adds to Taylor’s growing list of endorsements, including all 10 city council members and multiple state representatives. Rabhi has received endorsements from the Ann Arbor Education Association and Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, as well as national left-wing leaders such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Summer News Editor Niko Wilson can be reached at nikow@umich.edu.
