Nobody will ever accuse Marc Mallory of being another Dan Mulhern. And you are going Marc and Dan who, fair enough. They are not household names for sure, but give yourself a pat on the back if you knew that Dr. Mallory is currently the state’s First Gentleman and Dan the Man held the same title when Michigan’s first female governor was in office. Surely you do remember Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Anyhow, it is up to whomever is First Gentleman or First Lady to figure out what role, if any, they want to play. When Dan and Jen got married it was pretty much understood that he would be the one running for office. And it stayed that way until it became clear it would not stay that way forever. She beat him to it and on her first shot at elective office, he was calling her Attorney General Jennifer Granholm and after he hounded her for years to move up the ladder, her second try resulted in the new title i.e. governor. He proceeded then to play “deputy governor” as the wags in our town quickly labeled him to the point that he became part of the political back and forth and even got some flack for having too much sway with his bride.
Now comes Dr. Mallory who wouldn’t be caught dead in any of the inner-circle skull sessions with the governor and her team. That was fine with him as he was more than content to drill his client’s teeth while she did whatever she did in the political game. And it was even “finer” for her. To prove the point, on the eve of her first State of the State message, she was asked if she had performed the speech in front of her husband. One can still hear the loudWhitmerlaugh. “No! He’s a dentist!! Nuf said.
Which brings us to one role he had to play once she was elected. Let’s just say he didn’t know this was coming … poor guy.
One month after she was first elected governor, Gretchen Whitmer and soon-to-be First Gentleman Dr. Marc Mallory where watching soon to be exgovernor Rick Snyder and First Lady Sue being interviewed on the long running WKAR-TV broadcast of An Evening with the Governor. As she tells the story, he leans over to her and innocently inquired, “Do we have to do that?”
Perhaps much to his chagrin, she advised him the answer was yes. Not once but eight times.
And every year since then, he has graciously fulfilled his part of the deal by sitting down to add his insider perspective to life as the husband to the sitting governor.
“Has anybody seen you on this?” was the first toss-up.
He pauses for a second and ad libs.” Yeah. Mom.”
The governor laughs. He gets a big smile. How do people say you perform?
Remember this is going to a guy whose only performances in life have been on the other side of a drill.
Again, he dead pans the answer with, “it passes muster (pause for effect) barely.”
Turns out during 2024 when she was out and about selling books, trying to sell Kamala Harris, and doing her governorschtick, his highlight of the year was learning that one of is three son’s and his wife are expecting in April. “God willing,” as he explains he’s looking forward to being calling Grand Pa which is “classic.”
Now a couple of years into an accelerated retirement brought on by critics of the governor calling his office and making threats, he was asked to rate being out of the career loop on a ten point scale.
“A nine or a 10,” he reveals without thinking about it.
The governor reflects that he has an insatiable appetite to learn and once he gloms onto something, “he reads everything he can find … he’s an expert in so many things,” she boasts.
You can tell he is comfortable in his world that does not including working crowds. “I do things. This and that. That’s enough,” he joyfully admits while studiously avoiding the public spotlight.
She, on the other hand, admits when she retires that will be the challenge for her.
“I need people (as she makes a fist to drive home the point.) I need stuff to do. I love people. I get energy from that.”
And then this which nails the personality contrast between thetwo. She’sworkingthe state Democratic convention and is moving around the room with a marching band behind her with her higher office ambitions on full display.
And him? “He’s holed up in the corner reading a big history book,” she recalls.
And it works as they quickly confess that they are having fun.
He stays in his lane. She in hers and together, “we’re very happy. Home is good...a refuge because he’s not all in on the politics all the time. It’s like it works. It works well,” the governor reports and he nods his approval to her analysis while maybe thinking at the same time, “six down and two to go.”
