President-elect Joe Biden announced Thursday he nominated Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) to serve as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Mlive reported:

Whitmer, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. of Texas are nominated to serve as vice chairs, while Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is nominated to serve as vice chair of civic engagement and voter protection. Jason Rae is nominated as secretary, Virginia McGregor as treasurer and Chris Korge as national finance chair.

Previous vice chairs have maintained other full-time positions and focused on particular areas of strategy for the DNC.

The DNC position would allow Whitmer to raise her profile nationally, despite Michigan still being locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic and complaints from business owners and Republicans that there is no real plan to reopen.

Whitmer recently extended her ban on in-person dining at restaurants and bars and argued the state is still in a precarious position related to the virus. The original “three week pause” on certain freedoms was announced in November.

“While there has been a slight uptick in our percent positivity rate, our cases per million have plateaued and more hospital beds are becoming available. Today, we are confident that MDHHS [Michigan Department of Health and Human Services] can lift some of the protocols that were previously in place,” she said Wednesday.

In May, Whitmer said she was backing out of being considered for Biden’s vice president because she wanted to focus 100 percent of her time on being governor.

As speculation about Whitmer’s prospects grew, she claimed she was solely focused on Michigan.

“I was elected to be the governor of the state of Michigan. It is the honor of a lifetime and that’s where I’m spending 100 percent of my energy,” Whitmer told Today.

“I’m making a little bit of time to stay connected to the campaign but the most important thing I have to do right now is be the governor of my home state.”

There is no indication Whitmer would leave the governorship for the DNC position.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.