Whitmer eyed for Time's Person of the Year

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is among dozens of celebrities, authors, activists, politicians and others under consideration for Time's Person of the Year.

Her nomination is among a long list of those who have made news, for good or bad, or who may be "a hero to some and a menace to others," Time says. This year's nominees include Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, Kanye West, Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S  Attorney General William Barr, Pope Francis, firefighters, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and Black Lives Matters activists.

(As of Wednesday night, 81% of voters weighed in on the Whitmer choice with no. That's better than Barr, for whom 98% had voted no in the unscientific poll.)

Whitmer has been the object of scorn by President Donald Trump and his supporters for her lockdowns or restrictions in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic and was the subject of an alleged plot to kidnap her and violently overthrow the state government. 

Time's Person of the Year, previously Man of the Year, has been around since debuting the "week of New Year's Day in 1928," according to the magazine's website explaining the origins of naming Person of the Year.

The title isn't necessarily laudatory. It's bestowed upon “the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse,” former Managing Editor Walter Isaacson said in the 1998 issue, the website said.

"The online poll is a valuable way to see who the Internet thinks has most affected their lives," Time explains on the website.

Time editors make the final choice, but they "invite readers" to say who they think deserves the title. They'll reveal the 2020 winner on Dec. 10.