Pro-Whitmer Group Launches Ads To Tout $400 Insurance Refund

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Democratic group allied with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is launching ads over the college football bowl season to tout pending $400-per-vehicle refunds for all Michigan drivers with insurance.

The foray announced Thursday is Democrats' first onto TV in the governor's race, about 11 months before she is up for reelection in what could be a tough midterm climate. Whitmer, who signed a bipartisan 2019 law to lower auto insurance rates and pushed for the earlier-than-expected refunds coming next spring, is featured in the 30-second ad paid for by Put Michigan First, which is affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association.

The ads will cost roughly $200,000 to run during 35 bowl games, including the Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan games and the national championship.

Wearing a "Michigan Mom" shirt — her daughters attend Michigan — the Michigan State alumna says fans can agree on two things: to root for Utah to beat Ohio State and that they deserve a break after "years of overpaying for auto insurance."

"I got insurance companies to send refund checks directly back to you," Whitmer says.

Central Michigan also is in a bowl game, but it will be streamed online instead of being broadcast on a traditional network.

Republican groups and candidates have spent more than $2 million to date on TV, digital and radio ads criticizing the first-term incumbent. Two of the 12 GOP candidates for governor, self-funding multimillionaire Kevin Rinke and chiropractor Garrett Soldano, have aired TV ads.

The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, which assesses an annual insurance fee to cover unlimited medical benefits and other costs for seriously injured motorists, says the $400 refund is the largest in its 43-year history. The last refund came in 1998 and was $180 per vehicle. The fee was mandatory for decades but became voluntary in 2020 under the law pushed by Republican lawmakers and signed by Whitmer.

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