Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan managed a unique achievement for this year. She was able to close down a third of all the businesses in her state. Because of the strict coronavirus restrictions that she has imposed on the residents of her state, a full 32% of the businesses in Michigan have been closed down, and many of those permanently.

Michigan was second only to Puerto Rico in the United States when it comes to business closures. One has to remember that the territory has not been doing very well economically since it was hit by a strong hurricane back in 2017 and that its economy is mostly reliant on tourism. Given those facts, the fact that Michigan fared almost as badly is revealing about Whitmer’s leadership.

Nationally, 19% of all businesses have been affected by the lockdowns that have been imposed by the state governments. Pennsylvania, Vermont, Hawaii, and New York were among the states with the highest percentage of businesses closing down during the pandemic. The main common things about those states are that they are all led by Democrats. States that are Republican-led have fared much better. States like South Dakota, Arkansas, and North Dakota only saw less than 10% shutdowns.

Michigan is now in the middle of another lockdown that has affected businesses negatively and has limited the personal freedom of citizens. The state has banned in-person dining and classrooms for high schools. Entertainment establishments have also been closed down for the most part.

The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association (MRLA) claims that 5,600 restaurant operators are predicting that they will not be in business in six months if the lockdown stays. Even as the state is bleeding economically, governor Whitmer is insisting on even stricter lockdowns. She is willing to sacrifice the financial stability of the people living within her state to claim that she did something about the pandemic.