LANSING (AP) — Democrats are putting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan on the national stage tonight to rebut President Donald Trump, elevating a fresh face and casting an election-year spotlight on a swing state in the Midwest as the party looks to win back states Trump narrowly captured.

The 48-year-oldís ascendance comes as Democrats hope to solidify gains with female voters and as two men in their late 70s, former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, lead national primary polls. Her selection has led to increased speculation that she could be a running mate pick, though she said she is not interested.

Whitmer, who rarely mentions Trump, has advised Democratic presidential candidates that Michigan voters are less focused on his Twitter feed than on the ìfundamentalsî such as fixing deteriorating roads and helping train people for better-paying jobs. She will return to that theme in her 10-minute response to Trump’s State of the Union address, which she will deliver at East Lansing High School — where her two daughters are enrolled.

“These are the fundamentals that people in America are concerned about,” Whitmer told The Associated Press, adding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “thought I would have a message that would resonate.”

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said “it’s hard to imagine a better person” to counter Trump.

“Not only did she win the governorship by a wide margin in a key battleground state we lost in 2016 and need to win in 2020, but she is a strong moderate female voice — the perfect contrast to President Trump,” she said.

In high school, Whitmer wanted to be an ESPN broadcaster but switched course after an internship at the state Capitol while attending nearby Michigan State University. She went to law school and, after working as an attorney, won a state House seat in East Lansing.

Whitmer said she will talk about that “incredibly hard time” because it shaped her more than any other. She was caring for her mom, who died months after Whitmer gave birth to the first of two daughters. She also was serving as a freshman lawmaker and battling a health insurer over covering her mother’s chemotherapy.

She later became the first woman to lead a state Senate caucus and was an outspoken advocate for women before the 2017 Women’s Marches and #MeToo era, publicly disclosing during a 2013 legislative debate on health insurance coverage for abortions that she had been raped in college.

After leaving the Legislature due to term limits, Whitmer was appointed to temporarily lead the local prosecutorís office. She launched her campaign for governor days after the stint ended.