US MIDTERMS 2022: Whitmer wins re-election for Michigan governor seat

Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has held on to her gubernatorial seat in Michigan, beating Republican candidate Tudor Dixon.

The win will help protect Whitmer's executive order aiming to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050. The victory could also help sustain Whitmer's fight to shutter Enbridge's Line 5 propane and crude oil pipelines to protect the Great Lakes from a potential spill.

Whitmer has also called for the continued operation of the Palisades nuclear plant in Southwest Michigan, which shut this spring and is preparing for decommissioning. She has argued that the facility's 815 MW output is critical to the state's economy and clean power goals.

Holtec International, the current owner of the Palisades plant, applied for a federal grant under the Civil Nuclear Credit program created by the 2021 federal infrastructure package to aid financially struggling nuclear plants.

In September, Whitmer wrote a letter to the Department of Energy supporting the grant application. She said Michigan was ready to assist in restarting the plant, "identifying state funding and facilitating a power purchase agreement," according to the letter.

Whitmer has also worked with the governors of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin to develop the Regional Electric Vehicle Midwest Coalition, a bipartisan plan to build an EV charging network across the region.

Whitmer had about 54% of votes with 88% of districts reporting, according to The Associated Press, which called the race.