{"id":5756,"date":"2026-07-10T19:49:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-and-sen-elissa-slotkin-endorse-christopher-taylor-for-ann-arbor-mayor\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:49:08","slug":"gov-gretchen-whitmer-and-sen-elissa-slotkin-endorse-christopher-taylor-for-ann-arbor-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-and-sen-elissa-slotkin-endorse-christopher-taylor-for-ann-arbor-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin endorse Christopher Taylor for Ann Arbor mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., announced their endorsement of incumbent Mayor Christopher Taylor\u2019s reelection <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taylorforannarbor.com\">campaign<\/a> this Thursday, ahead of the Aug. 4 Democratic primary matchup between Taylor and Washtenaw County Commissioner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voteyousef.com\/\">Yousef Rabhi<\/a>, a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsausa.org\/\">Democratic Socialists of America<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DakrFMuEUYK\/?img_index=2\">post<\/a> to Instagram Thursday morning, Whitmer \u2014 who has six months left in her final term as Michigan governor \u2014 wrote Taylor has worked to support her agenda and make Ann Arbor more affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs Mayor, he has delivered where it matters most: leading the effort to build more affordable housing, modernizing water infrastructure, and fixing the damn roads,\u201d Whitmer wrote. \u201cAs 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\u2019s Mayor Taylor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taylor later released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DalAckqxiCx\/\">video<\/a> to Instagram Thursday, featuring Slotkin announcing her support for his campaign. Slotkin was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024. and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/05\/us\/politics\/elissa-slotkin-trump-speech-response.html\">rose<\/a> to national prominence after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slotkin.senate.gov\/2025\/03\/05\/what-theyre-saying-slotkin-delivers-democratic-response-to-president-trumps-joint-session\/\">delivering<\/a> a rebuke to President Donald Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/national-news\/articles\/2025-03-05\/3-takeaways-from-trumps-combative-address-to-congress-br\">combative address<\/a> to a joint session of Congress one month into his second term. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ElissaSlotkin\/status\/2075248731910189273\">post<\/a> to X, Slotkin wrote Taylor has protected Ann Arbor from the Trump administration while supporting housing growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMayor Taylor has expanded access to housing, defended our workers, and fought against President Trump\u2019s federal overreach,\u201d Slotkin wrote. \u201cAt a time when local leadership is so important, Mayor Taylor is the right person to continue leading in Ann Arbor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taylor and Rabhi faced off in three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/ann-arbor-probate-council-and-mayoral-candidates-forum-held-at-arrowwood-community-center\/\">public<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/taylor-and-rabhi-spar-at-mayoral-candidacy-forum\/\">forums<\/a> this summer, which both candidates took as opportunities to highlight their campaign\u2019s priorities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taylor\u2019s administration has focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/this-vote-is-the-turning-point-city-council-unanimously-adopts-comprehensive-land-use-plan-2050\/\">increasing<\/a> the city\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=2548154495617200\">has<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/annarborobserver.com\/yousef-rabhi-interview\/\">criticized<\/a> Taylor\u2019s approach, saying he prioritizes luxury developers instead of affordable housing while residents face <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/erry-2018\/09\/bf55a070399250\/old-neighborhood-residents-rec.html\">displacement<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi also <a href=\"https:\/\/michiganadvance.com\/2026\/02\/02\/rabhi-challenges-ann-arbors-democratic-establishment-with-socialist-mayoral-bid\/\">advocates<\/a> for a <a href=\"https:\/\/annarborpublicpower.org\/\">publicly owned energy grid<\/a> to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dteenergy.com\/\">DTE Energy<\/a>, 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/sustainable-energy-utility\/\">Sustainable Energy Utility<\/a> initiative to provide residents with a renewable option to supplement DTE.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Support from Whitmer and Slotkin adds to Taylor\u2019s growing list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taylorforannarbor.com\/endorsements\">endorsements<\/a>, including all 10 city council members and multiple state representatives. Rabhi has received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voteyousef.com\/endorsements\">endorsements<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wemu.org\/wemu-news\/2026-05-18\/aaea-endorses-rabhi-in-ann-arbor-mayors-race\">Ann Arbor Education Association<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Summer News Editor Niko Wilson can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/governor-gretchen-whitmer-and-senator-elissa-slotkin-endorse-incumbent-christopher-taylor-for-mayor\/mailto:nikow@umich.edu\"><em>nikow@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., announced their endorsement of incumbent Mayor Christopher Taylor\u2019s 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 \u2014 who has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[242,243,5100,5097,5099,5094,5095,4774,5096,5098,1944,4802],"class_list":["post-5756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-ann","tag-arbor","tag-christopher","tag-elissa","tag-endorse","tag-gov","tag-gretchen","tag-mayor","tag-sen","tag-slotkin","tag-taylor","tag-whitmer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5758,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756\/revisions\/5758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}