It’s difficult to be a Democrat these days. The party that has grown accustomed to holding the reins of power in our government and culture suddenly finds itself routed, with no clear plan on how to counter the growing populist backlash and the man elected to represent it: President Donald Trump.

Smart Democrats will adapt. Michigan’s Karen Whitsett is already well on her way.

Democratic state Rep. Whitsett has been an oddball in her party for a while now. First elected to the state House in 2018, she broke with Michigan Democrats over their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and became the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting to curb Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive authority. She even praised Trump for championing hydroxychloroquine, a commonly prescribed anti-parasitic drug that she claims saved her life after she got the virus. 

Trump ended up inviting Whitsett to meet with him at the White House in 2020, which she did, only to earn a unanimous censure from her Democratic colleagues back in Detroit. Whitsett, the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party claimed, had “chosen to be a stand-alone Democrat with the goals of a Republican.”

“I did not know that saying ‘thank you’ had a political line,” Whitsett said afterwards. “I’m telling my story and my truth, and this is how I feel and these are my words.”

Whitsett found herself at odds with the party again in 2023, becoming the only Democrat on the Michigan House Health Policy Committee to vote against the Reproductive Health Act over some of the pro-abortion bill’s more radical policies. The sweeping legislation sought to remove the state’s ban on using Medicaid funds to cover abortions and the mandated 24-hour waiting period between an abortion consultation and procedure.

These changes were a step too far for Whitsett, who is by no means anti-abortion. She’s said she voted for Proposition 3, the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion access in Michigan’s Constitution, and has been open about her own experience undergoing an abortion herself. 

Planned Parenthood’s lobbying arm in Michigan blasted Whitsett over her “betrayal.” But Whitsett refused to budge, arguing she wasn’t the only Democrat concerned about the bill’s extremism.

And she was right—the final Reproductive Health Act signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2023 did not touch either the 24-hour waiting period requirement or the state’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortions. Whitsett didn’t do that alone.

But it seems Whitsett understandably has grown tired of being used as cover by other state Democrats who share her concerns but lack the courage to speak up for themselves. After November’s election, she joined Republicans once again in their boycott of the state legislature’s lame duck session, preventing Democrats from reaching quorum and jamming through a bunch of insane policies that Michigan voters soundly rejected when they elected Trump and kicked Democrats out of the state House. 

And now she’s refusing to even caucus with the Michigan Democrats. 

“I know how to read a bill, so I don’t need someone to tell me how to vote,” Whistett told Fox News this month. “I’m not going to caucus with them because of their talking points and the fact that they are disconnected. They’re still using the same rhetoric that lost [them] the race, so why am I going to caucus with a group that’s totally disconnected? I’m better off just being by myself, read[ing] my bills, and get[ting] things done for my district.”

The point Whitsett makes about Democrats’ disconnect is important. Democrats lost Michigan (and every single other key swing state) because they refused to confront the negative consequences of their policies. On everything from climate to housing, Democrats believed they could micromanage the lives of average Michiganders and force them to live according to a progressive worldview. And Michigan Democrats’ shenanigans during the lame duck session late last year prove they still believe they had the right to do so.

With Trump back in charge of Washington, Whitsett is right not to expect her party to learn the lessons of 2024. While they wander the political desert, the invitation the president offered her back in 2020 still stands: Whitsett “should join the Republican Party!” At least then she wouldn’t have to stand alone.

Kaylee McGhee White is editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, a Steamboat Institute media fellow, and a columnist for Michigan Enjoyer. Follow her on X @KayleeDMcGhee.