Jennifer Granholm | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2021 | |
| 16thUnited States Secretary of Energy | |
| In office February 25, 2021 – January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Deputy | David Turk |
| Preceded by | Dan Brouillette |
| Succeeded by | Chris Wright |
| 47thGovernor of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011 | |
| Lieutenant | John D. Cherry |
| Preceded by | John Engler |
| Succeeded by | Rick Snyder |
| 51stAttorney General of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 1999 – January 1, 2003 | |
| Governor | John Engler |
| Preceded by | Frank J. Kelley |
| Succeeded by | Mike Cox |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1959-02-05)February 5, 1959 (age 67) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
| Signature | .svg) |
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-born American politician who was the 16thUnited States Secretary of Energy from 2021 to 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, she previously served as the 47thGovernor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011 and as the 51stAttorney General of Michigan from 1999 to 2003, the first woman to hold either office.
Born inVancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Granholm moved toCalifornia at age four. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of California, Berkeley, in 1984 and a Juris Doctor degree fromHarvard Law School in 1987. She then clerked for JudgeDamon Keith of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, became an assistantU.S. attorney for theEastern District of Michigan in 1991, and was appointed to theWayne CountyCorporation Counsel in 1995.
In 1998, Granholm ran for attorney general of Michigan, defeating Republican nomineeJohn Smietanka. She ran for governor of Michiganin 2002 and was elected the state's firstfemale governor. She was re-electedin 2006.
Granholm was a member ofthe presidential transition team forBarack Obama before heassumed office in 2009.[1] After leaving public office, Granholm took a position at the UC Berkeley and, with her husband Daniel Mulhern, wroteA Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Future, released in 2011.[2] She became host ofThe War Room with Jennifer Granholm. In 2017, she was hired as aCNN political contributor.[3]
After President-electJoe Biden announced his intention to nominate Granholm to head theUnited States Department of Energy in 2020,[4] she was confirmed by theU.S. Senate in 2021.[5] After serving a full term as secretary, she joinedDGA Group.[6]
Granholm was born February 5, 1959,[7] inVancouver, British Columbia, to Shirley Alfreda (née Dowden) and Victor Ivar Granholm,[8] both bank tellers.[9] Granholm's maternal grandparents came fromIreland andNewfoundland, respectively.[9] Her paternal grandfather was Hugo "Anders" Granholm, who immigrated toPenny, British Columbia, Canada, in the late 1920s fromRobertsfors, Sweden, where his father was the mayor.[10] The former Minister for Enterprise and Energy and formerDeputy Prime Minister of Sweden,Maud Olofsson, lives in Robertsfors, and when the two met in Sweden, the media revealed that Olofsson's husband is a relative of Granholm.[11] Her paternal grandmother was Judith Olivia Henriette (Solstad) Granholm, an emigrant fromGjerstad inSouthern Norway. She came with the shipSSBergensfjord from Oslo to Halifax, and from there she took the railway toPenny, British Columbia, where her uncles and several others had established a small logging village.[12]
Granholm's family immigrated toCalifornia when she was four years old.[13] She grew up inAnaheim,San Jose, andSan Carlos.[14] Granholm attended Ida Price Junior High andDel Mar High School before graduating fromSan Carlos High School in 1977[13] and won the Miss San Carlosbeauty pageant.[14] As a young adult, she attempted to launch aHollywood acting career but abandoned her efforts at age 21.[13] In 1978, she appeared onThe Dating Game,[15] and held jobs as atour guide atUniversal Studios and incustomer service at theLos Angeles Times and was the first female tour guide atMarine World/Africa USA inRedwood City, piloting boats with 25 tourists aboard.[14]
In 1980, at age 21, she became anaturalizedU.S. citizen,[16] and worked forJohn B. Anderson's campaign forpresident of the United States as an Independent in the1980 election. She then enrolled at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, the first person in her family to attend college.[9] She was elected toPhi Beta Kappa and graduated in 1984 with aB.A. inpolitical science andFrench.[9] During a year in France, she helped to smuggle clothes and medical supplies toJewish people in the Soviet Union[9] and became involved in the anti-apartheid movement.[9] She then earned aJuris Doctor degree atHarvard University, also with honors, in 1987.[9] AtHarvard Law School, Granholm served aseditor-in-chief of theHarvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.[17]
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Granholm clerked for JudgeDamon Keith, a senior judge on theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, from 1987 to 1988.[9] She also worked for theMichael Dukakis 1988 presidential campaign.[9] After working as an attorney in theWayne County executive office from 1989 to 1991,[9] Granholm became an assistantU.S. attorney for theEastern District of Michigan in 1991.[9][18] She helped to prosecute drug dealers, gang members and child pornographers, sued the state and fought against credit card fraud.[9] Of the 154 people Granholm tried, 151 were convicted.[9] In 1995, she was appointed as Corporation Counsel for Wayne County, the youngest person to hold the position.[18] Granholm defended the county against lawsuits, sued the state over road taxes, and fought to uphold environmental laws.[9]
After thirty-seven years in office, DemocraticAttorney GeneralFrank J. Kelley chose not to run for a 10th term in1998 and Granholm entered the race to succeed him. Unopposed for the Democratic nomination, she faced RepublicanJohn Smietanka, the 1994 nominee and former U.S. attorney for theWestern District of Michigan, in the general election. The campaign began as a relatively friendly one,[19] with both agreeing that they wanted to expand the Internet Crimes Unit, start neighborhood-based crime-fighting programmes and continue working as a consumer advocate, as Kelley had done.[19]
However, the race turned bitter in mid-September, when Smietanka ran television ads that called Granholm an "inexperienced" and "dangerous" liberal.[18] He also tried to link Granholm to Democratic gubernatorial nomineeGeoffrey Fieger's crime plan, which called for greater emphasis on rehabilitation for non-violent criminals and shortening their prison terms.[18] Granholm, who had disavowed Fieger's crime plan the day it was released, said the claim was "a lie, just a lie" and that as attorney general, "you are the person who is to protect the consumer from deceitful ads."[18] Asked what separated her from Smietanka, Granholm replied, "Besides honesty?"[18] Kelley also came to Granholm's defense, starring in an advertisement where he called Smietanka's ads "garbage" and a "con" and accused him of running a "dishonest campaign".[18][20] For his part, Smietanka was angered by Democratic advertisements that referred to late child support payments he had made and claimed that he had lied about how much of his own money he donated to his campaign.[21]
After a close race, with polls showing the two candidates with virtually identical votes,[18][19] Granholm defeated Smietanka by 1,557,310 votes (52.09%) to 1,432,604 (47.91%).[22] After Granholm was elected governor in 2002, arguments arose between Smietanka and then-Republican GovernorJohn Engler about who was most responsible for Granholm's meteoric rise in Michigan politics. Smietanka blamed Engler for trying to force him out of the 1998 race in favor of G. Scott Romney, for dredging up the issue of his missed child support payments and for not supporting him more fully after he defeated Romney at the Republican convention. Engler countered that Smietanka was a weak candidate who should have stepped aside for Romney, who would have beaten the inexperienced Granholm; she would then not have had a launch pad for her gubernatorial campaign in 2002.[23][24]
Granholm was sworn into office on January 1, 1999, becoming the first female attorney general of Michigan.[21] She served a single term, from 1999 to 2003. In office, she continued Kelley's work on protecting citizens and consumers' rights and established Michigan's first High Tech Crime Unit, appointingTerrence Berg as its first chief.[25]
In April 1999, Granholm announced a lawsuit against RVP Development, builders of theArcadia Bluffs Golf Course, alleging that poor construction of the course had led to illegal discharges of sediment into Lake Michigan from erosion following heavy storms in 1998, which had "turned a ravine into a ravaged gorge".[26] Development company President Richard Postma refused to pay the $425,000 of state fines, saying he had made moves to stop the erosion and accused Granholm of trying to make him "a poster child for her campaign of the future". Granholm responded that his "perception of the political landscape in Michigan is as poor as his ability to construct a golf landscape".[27] After years of negotiations and legal wrangling,[28][29][30] the lawsuit was settled in August 2003, with RVP Development agreeing to pay a $125,000 fine.[31]
During her tenure as Attorney General, Granholm became a harsh critic of the annual tradition atThe University of Michigan called theNaked Mile. Through her efforts, the event was essentially cancelled by April 2000 never to emerge again.[32] In July 2000, Granholm's office settled withJ.C. Penney after the retailer made numerous pricing and scanning errors in stores in Michigan. The issue came to the attention of the attorney general's office after a "repeat and progressively worse error rate" that saw 33% of items sold in December 1999 being sold for more at the register than they were listed for on the shelves. J.C. Penney paid a fine and agreed to designate "pricing associates" to monitor for errors in pricing.[33]
After theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001, Granholm directed state agencies to work with lawmakers in keeping the fight against terrorism within the powers of the state. She also imposed a regulation on gasoline dealers to keep them from raising prices dramatically, something which occurred sporadically across Michigan immediately following the attacks. In February 2002, Granholm announced that her office was joining with theAARP Michigan State Office to help consumers fight calls from telemarketers.[34]
In the 2002 election, incumbent Republican governorJohn Engler was term-limited and not able to run for re-election to a fourth term in office. The Republicans unified around Engler'slieutenant governor,Dick Posthumus. Meanwhile, Granholm faced a competitive primary against formerU.S. Ambassador to Canada and governorJames Blanchard and U.S. Representative and formerHouse Minority WhipDavid E. Bonior. Blanchard had been defeated for reelection by Engler in 1990 and Bonior had resigned as Democratic whip to run for governor, his House district having been redrawn to make it all but unwinnable for him.[35]
Granholm, seen by many as a "fresh face" after the 12-year Engler administration, raised more money than Blanchard and Bonior and consistently led them in polls by large margins.[36] Her campaign led to increased turnout among women[37] and she comfortably won the Democratic primary with 499,129 votes (47.69%) to Bonior's 292,958 (27.99%) and Blanchard's 254,586 (24.32%).[38]
Granholm was the heavy favorite in the general election, boasting strong support from working women, African-Americans and voters under 30 years of age.[39] She campaigned on her record on crime and was seen as more charismatic than Posthumus.[39] Despite the2002 elections being a good year for Republicans nationwide, who gained control ofthe U.S. Senate and increased their hold onthe U.S. House, Granholm defeated Posthumus by 1,633,796 votes (51.42%) to 1,506,104 (47.40%).[40]
Granholm was sworn in as the 47th governor of the state of Michigan on January 1, 2003. Upon her inauguration, in addition to becoming the state's first female governor, she also became its third governor who was not anatural-born citizen of the United States and its fourth who was not born within the United States. The earlier two non-natural-born citizens wereFred M. Warner, who was born in England and was the 26th governor from 1905 to 1911; andJohn Swainson, who was also born in Canada and was the 42nd governor from 1961 to 1963.George W. Romney, who was born in Mexico and was the 27th governor from 1963 to 1969, was a natural-born citizen by virtue of his parents' U.S. citizenship at the time of his birth.
Granholm emphasized Michigan's need to attract young people and businesses via theCool Cities Initiative.[41][42] As governor, she was a member of theNational Governors Association, chairing its Health and Human Services Committee and co‑chairing its Health Care Task Force. She is also a former chair of theMidwestern Governors Association. She lived in the officialMichigan Governor's Residence, located near the Capitol Building.
During Granholm's first year in office, she made a significant number of budget cuts to deal with a $1.7 billion deficit (about two percent of the annual state budget). She was upset by proposals to cut state funding to social welfare programs, such ashomeless shelters andmental health agencies.[43]
Granholm has been a proponent ofeducation reform since the first year of her term. In her first State of the State Address in 2003, Granholm announced Project Great Start to focus on reforming education for children from birth to age five. Project Great Start has coordinated public and private efforts to encourage educating new parents and encouraging parents to read to their children.[44]
Granholm emphasized post-secondary education for Michiganders following the decline in Michigan manufacturing jobs, many of which did not require a college degree. In 2004 she asked Lieutenant GovernorJohn D. Cherry to lead the Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth to double the number of college graduates in Michigan. Many of the commission's recommendations were enacted into law during Granholm's tenure as governor, e.g. increasing high school graduation standards (The Michigan Merit Curriculum) so that every Michigan high school student takes a college preparatory curriculum, which includes four years of math and English/language arts and three years of science and social studies, beginning with students who entered high school in the fall of 2006.[45]
At an awards ceremony on October 28, 2004, Granholm was inducted into the "Michigan Women's Hall of Fame". She has also been the recipient of the MichiganJaycees 1999 "Outstanding Young Michiganders" and theYWCA "Woman of the Year" awards.
During the2004 presidential election in Michigan, Granholm campaigned hard for Democratic nomineeJohn Kerry after early polls showed PresidentGeorge W. Bush with a narrow lead. She cited the economy as the main concern for Michiganders, not theIraq War or thewar on terror, which meant that with "the deficit larger; the Dow dropping; unemployment claims up, hitting an all-time high; General Motors profits below expectations, with health claims crippling profits; flu vaccine in short supply; oil prices rising" her state was badly hit.[46]
In February 2005, Michigan's Republican-dominated legislature refused to vote on Granholm's proposed state budget, citing concerns over cuts to state funding for higher education.[47] In the previous years of Granholm's term, many cuts to higher education had been demanded and voted in the legislature in order to balance the state budget. The year before, Republican leaders had called Granholm a "do‑nothing governor", claiming that she failed to lead, while Democrats accused legislative Republicans of being obstructionist. In January 2005, Granholm presented an early budget proposal, demanded immediate response from the Legislature, and held a press conference outlining the highlights of the proposed budget. After refusing to consider, debate, or vote on the proposed budget, Republicans stated they would prefer that the legislature have more involvement in the formation of the state budget.[48]
Michigan's economy had been losing jobs since 2000, largely owing to the decline in the American manufacturing sector. Granholm supported diversification of Michigan's economy away from its historical reliance on automotive manufacturing. She pushed through a $2 billion21st Century Jobs Fund to attract jobs to Michigan in the life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security sectors.[49]
Granholm ran for a second term in the2006 election. Her opponent wasRepublican businessman and politicianDick DeVos.[50]
Both the Granholm campaign and theMichigan Democratic Party put out television commercials produced byJoe Slade White focusing on her efforts to revive Michigan's economy and accusing DeVos of cutting Michigan jobs while he was head ofAmway. Granholm won re-election, defeating DeVos. The election results were 56% for Granholm, 42% for DeVos, and a little over one percent for minor-party candidatesGregory Creswell,Douglas Campbell, andBhagwan Dashairya.[50] Granholm's share of the vote was 4.9 percent higher than in her first gubernatorial election in 2002. Granholm's campaign was managed byHoward Edelson.[51]
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The2006 elections saw a return to power by the Democrats in theState House of Representatives and the retention of Republican control over theState Senate. The partisan division of power in Michigan's state government led to a showdown between Granholm and lawmakers over theFY 2008 state budget that resulted in a four-hour shutdown of nonessential state services in the early morning of October 1, 2007, until a budget was passed and signed.[52] The budget cut services, froze state spending in areas such as the arts,[53] increased the state income tax, and created a new set of service taxes on a variety of businesses, e.g. ski lifts andinterior design andlandscaping companies, to address a state budget shortfall. As a result of the controversial budget, some taxpayer and business advocates called for a recall campaign against Granholm and lawmakers who voted for the tax increases.[54]
The budget crisis eventually ledStandard & Poor's to downgrade Michigan'scredit rating from AA to AA−. Additionally, the crisis contributed to sinking approval ratings for Granholm, which went from 43 percent in August 2007[55] to a low of 32 percent in December 2007. She had one of the lowest approval ratings for any governor in the United States.[56]
In 2007 Granholm proposed and signed into law the No Worker Left Behind Act to provide two years of free training orcommunity college for unemployed and displaced workers.[57] Since its launch in August 2007, more than 130,000 people have enrolled in retraining.[58] The program caps tuition assistance at $5000 per year for two years, or $10,000 per person, and covers retraining in high-demand occupations and emerging industries.[59]
The Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth reported back in October 2009 that 62,206 people had enrolled and that of the 34,355 who had completed training, 72% had found work or retained their positions and a further 18,000 were still in long-term or short-term training.[60][61] 16% of all enrollees had withdrawn or failed to complete the training.[61] As of July 2010, more than two years after the program was launched, 65,536 people were in training or involved in on-the-job training.[58] Dropouts had been reduced to 13.1% of enrollments.[58]
Granholm delivered her sixth State of the State address on January 29, 2008. The speech focused mainly on creating jobs in Michigan through bringingalternative energy companies to Michigan.[62] Through passing arenewable portfolio standard, which would require that ten percent of Michigan's energy would come from renewable sources by 2015 and twenty-five percent by 2025, Granholm expected the alternative energy industry to emerge in Michigan.[63] Since the passage of the standard, Mariah Power, Global Wind Systems, Cascade Swift Turbine, Great Lakes Turbine, and 38 other companies have announced new projects in Michigan.[64] The solar and wind power industries now provide more than ten thousand jobs in Michigan.[65][66]
Granholm also called in the speech for an incentive package to offer tax breaks to filmmakers who shoot in Michigan and use local crews in production. A package of bills offering film industry incentives was approved by both houses of theMichigan legislature and signed into law by Granholm on April 7, 2008.[67]
Partly because of pressure from Granholm,Michigan's Democratic presidential primary was moved up to January 15, leading theDemocratic National Committee to strip theMichigan Democratic Party of its delegates (Michigan historically had held itscaucuses on February 9). Granholm has been named by some as a possible candidate forUnited States attorney general. She was the policy chair of theDemocratic Governors Association.
On April 29, 2008, Granholm had emergency surgery to correct a health issue that stemmed from a 1993 accident. Because of the surgery, Granholm had to postpone a trip toIsrael andKuwait.[68] She finally made the journey in November 2008 and signed awater technology partnership agreement with the Israeli government. In addition, she delivered the keynote address at an automotive event organized by theMichigan Israel Business Bridge and theIsrael Export Institute.[69]
In response to a May 14, 2008 resolution by theDetroit City Council that Granholm remove Detroit MayorKwame Kilpatrick from office because of eight and later tenfelony counts against him,[70] Granholm began an inquiry[71] that culminated in a removal hearing on September 3, 2008.[72] On September 3, Granholm outlined the legal basis for the hearings, arguments were made, and three witnesses were called.[73] On the morning of September 4, Kilpatrick agreed to two plea deals in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury andno contest one count of assaulting and obstructing a police officer in two separate cases. Both deals required his resignation. When the hearing reconvened later that day, Granholm said the hearing would be adjourned until September 22 as a result of the plea deals, and if Kilpatrick's resignation became effective before then the hearing would be cancelled.[74]
In September 2008, Governor Granholm undertook the role ofRepublican vice presidential nomineeSarah Palin in a series of practice debates withDemocratic vice presidential nomineeJoe Biden.[75]
With the election ofBarack Obama as president, Granholm joined his economic advisory team, having had extensive experience running the Michigan economy, and there was speculation that she might join the Obama administration.[76] On May 13, 2009, theAssociated Press reported that President Obama was considering Granholm, among others, for possible appointment to the United States Supreme Court. Eventually Obama choseSonia Sotomayor.[77]
In 2010, Granholm was barred from seeking re-election due to Michigan's term limits law.[78] Her governorship ended on January 1, 2011, whenRepublicanRick Snyder, who won the 2010 election, was sworn in.
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Granholm is a distinguished adjunct professor of law and public policy at the UC BerkeleyGoldman School of Public Policy andUC Berkeley School of Law.[79] In the Autumn of 2011, she taught a graduate course entitled "Governing in Tough Times". She is also a senior research fellow at the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute (BECI).[80] As a senior advisor toThe Pew Charitable Trusts' Clean Energy Program and founder of The American Jobs Project at UC Berkeley, Granholm spearheads a campaign for a national clean energy policy that promotes and fundsAmerican energy independence and home-grown manufacturing and innovation for wind, solar, and advanced battery industries across the United States.[81] She is a regular contributor toNBC's political talk showMeet the Press, has written onU.S. energy policy[82] and has co-authored a book with her husband,A Governor's Story: The Fight For Jobs and America's Economic Future, which was released in September 2011 and was about the lessons Michigan's experience can offer to America.
Granholm served on the board of directors of theDow Chemical Company from March to October 2011.[83][84][85] In May 2011, she joined the board of directors ofMarinette Marine Corporation, a Wisconsin ship builder and Defense contractor.[86][87] Granholm is currently serving as the sponsor ofUSS Marinette, a warship under construction by the company.[88] In August 2013, she joined the board ofTalmer Bancorp, a Michigan financial institution, remaining on the board until the bank was sold in September 2016.[87][89][90] In August 2016, she joined the board ofChargePoint, a corporation which manages a network of electric vehicle charging stations.[87][91] In March 2017, Granholm also joined the board ofProterra, a manufacturer of electric buses and charging stations.[87][92]
In October 2011,Current TV announced that she would be joining its new political primetime lineup as host of the new programThe War Room with Jennifer Granholm. In January 2013, she announced that she was leaving the network due to the sale toAl Jazeera.[93]
In October 2012, she became a "household name" after delivering what has been described as a "hyperactive"[94] and "sharp-tongued"[95]speech at the2012 Democratic National Convention inCharlotte, North Carolina, on September 6. Granholm's speech centered on theautomotive industry crisis of 2008–2010; specifically, President Obama's decision to bail outGeneral Motors andChrysler, its beneficial effects on theU.S. economy, andMitt Romney'sopposition to the bailout.[96]
In January 2014, she was picked to co-chairPriorities USA Action oppositeJim Messina.[97] She has previously saidHillary Clinton "is the strongest candidate out there should she decide to raise her hand" in regard to the upcoming2016 presidential election. Granholm previously supported Clinton overBarack Obama in the2008 election campaign. She considered running for theUnited States Senate in2014 to replace retiring DemocratCarl Levin, but decided against doing so.[98]
In August 2015, months afterHillary Clinton's campaign announcement for the2016 presidential election, Granholm transitioned fromPriorities USA Action toCorrect the Record, anotherClinton-aligned political committee whose classification allows Granholm to serve as a direct "surrogate" forHillary Clinton on the campaign trail.[99] In August 2016, Granholm was named by Clinton to the team planning forher potential presidential transition.[100]
Granholm was twice mentioned as a possibleU.S. Secretary of Energy, first in December 2008 when President-elect Obama was assembling his first-termCabinet[101] and again in December 2010, when it was rumored that SecretarySteven Chu might resign.[102]
Granholm was also twice considered by President Obama to be apotential Supreme Court candidate.[103][104][105][106][107][108] In May 2009, she was on the shortlist of candidates to replace the retiring Associate JusticeDavid Souter.[109] She attended aCAFE standards meeting at the White House on May 19 and spoke with Obama, but officials would not comment on whether the two discussed a potential court appointment.[110] Obama choseSonia Sotomayor, who wasconfirmed by the Senate in August. After the retirement of Associate JusticeJohn Paul Stevens in May 2010, Granholm was again spoken of as a potential candidate;[111] Obama choseElena Kagan, who wasconfirmed in August.
In March 2011, withTim Kaine poised to resign as chairman of theDemocratic National Committee to run for the U.S. Senate from Virginiain 2012, Granholm was mentioned as a potential successor. However, she made clear early on that she was not interested, which was reported to have "stunned" senior Democrats, who were "surprised and disappointed" that Granholm had taken herself out of the running. U.S. RepresentativeDebbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida was elected instead.[112]
After President Obama wasre-elected in 2012, Granholm was reportedly considered for a position in Obama's second-term Cabinet, specifically to succeed Chu as secretary of energy,Ray LaHood asU.S. secretary of transportation,Hilda Solis asU.S. secretary of labor orEric Holder asU.S attorney general.[113][114][115][116][117] Granholm herself dampened such speculation, citing her sharp criticism of Republicans during the 2012 election and her time presenting on Current TV.[118]
In March 2013, Michigan's senior U.S. senator, DemocratCarl Levin, announced that he would not run for a seventh termin 2014. Granholm was mentioned as a candidate to succeed him,[119] but she announced shortly after that she would not run.[120] She endorsed U.S. RepresentativeGary Peters,[121] who defeated Republican nomineeTerri Lynn Land in the general election.
In September 2014, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to step down, there was speculation that Granholm might be a potential candidate to succeed him.[122]Loretta Lynch was ultimately nominated and confirmed for the position.
There was speculation that Granholm's increased visibility from her senior role in the Clinton campaign indicated that she would be under consideration for a position in the U.S. Cabinet orDemocratic National Committee leadership if Clinton had won the 2016 election.[123]
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Then-President-electJoe Biden nominated Granholm to be the nextsecretary of energy. Granholm was seen as one of Biden's least controversial nominees, winning support from unions, environmental groups, and some Republicans.[124] University of California, Berkeley professor of energyDaniel Kammen, who worked with Granholm at UC Berkeley, said she will be "phenomenal for DOE" because "she understands the technology, she understands deployment and she knows how to run a big agency."[125] She appeared before theSenate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 27, 2021, and the committee voted to advance her nomination in a 13–4 vote on February 3, 2021.[126] She was confirmed by the Senate 64–35 on February 25, 2021, and was sworn into office later that day by Vice PresidentKamala Harris.[127][128] She is the first secretary of energy born outside the United States.[citation needed]
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In April 2021, she said PresidentJoe Biden "has a goal of getting tonet zero carbon dioxide for this country by 2050. And that means that we have got to figure out ways to clean up our fossil fuel industry."[129] On May 19, 2022, the Department of Energy announced a $3.5 billion program funded under theInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to create four large-scale regionaldirect air capture hubs each consisting of a network ofcarbon dioxide removal projects.[130][131]
Granholm had a call with Saudi Energy Minister PrinceAbdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud. They discussed closer cooperation in the energy field.[132] In late 2021, she blamed theOPEC oil cartel led bySaudi Arabia and the U.S. gas andpetroleum industry for rising fuel prices in the United States.[133][134][135] When asked what her plans were to increaseoil production in the United States, she laughingly replied: "That is hilarious. Would that I had the magic wand on this."[136]
Granholm signed a detailed ethics agreement for the top energy government job and has since then, violated certain provisions of theSTOCK Act.[137]
On December 16, 2022, Granholm posthumously clearedJ. Robert Oppenheimer, Americantheoretical physicist, often credited as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in theManhattan Project – theWorld War II undertaking that developed the firstnuclear weapons, of the1954 revocation of hissecurity clearance due to a "flawed investigation".[138][139]
After serving a full term as Secretary of Energy, Granholm joined the lobbying firmDGA Group as a senior counselor.[6]
In November of 2025, Granholm was appointed as co-chair ofNew Jersey Governor-electMikie Sherrill’s committee to review energy costs inNew Jersey[140]
While Granholm was at Harvard, she met fellow law student and Michigan native Daniel Mulhern, a theology graduate fromYale University.[9] They married in 1986 and they took each other's surname as their middle names.[9] They have three children.[9]
On October 21, 2010, Granholm was made aCommander of theRoyal Order of the Polar Star, First Class, by theKing of Sweden "for her work in fostering relations between Michigan and Sweden to promote a clean energy economy."[141][142]
Granholm is Catholic. She converted to Catholicism while at Harvard Law School.[143][144]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jennifer Granholm (incumbent) | 2,142,513 | 56.3 | +4.9 | |
| Republican | Dick DeVos | 1,608,086 | 42.3 | −5.1 | |
| Libertarian | Greg Creswell | 23,524 | 0.6 | n/a | |
| Green | Douglas Campbell | 20,009 | 0.5 | −0.3 | |
| Constitution | Bhagwan Dashairya | 7,087 | 0.2 | −0.3 | |
| Write-in | 37 | 0.0 | n/a | ||
| Majority | 534,427 | 14.0 | +10 | ||
| Turnout | 3,801,256 | 100 | +19.6 | ||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jennifer Granholm | 1,633,796 | 51.42 | +13.64 | |
| Republican | Dick Posthumus | 1,506,104 | 47.40 | −14.81 | |
| Green | Douglas Campbell | 25,236 | 0.79 | ||
| Constitution | Joseph Pilchak | 12,411 | 0.3 | ||
| Write-in | 18 | 0.00 | |||
| Majority | 127,692 | 4.02 | |||
| Turnout | 3,177,565 | ||||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jennifer Granholm | 499,129 | 47.69 | ||
| Democratic | David E. Bonior | 292,958 | 27.99 | ||
| Democratic | James Blanchard | 254,586 | 24.32 | ||
| Majority | 206,171 | 19.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jennifer Granholm | 1,557,310 | 52.09 | ||
| Republican | John Smietanka | 1,432,604 | 47.91 | ||
| Majority | 124,706 | 4.17 | |||
| Turnout | 2,989,914 | 100 | |||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
jennifer granholm john Smietanka.
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