Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-born American politician who served as the 16th United States secretary of energy from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously worked as the 47th governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011 and as the 51st attorney general of Michigan from 1999 to 2003. She was the first woman to hold either of these positions.

Granholm was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She moved to California when she was four years old. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1987. She worked as a clerk for Judge Damon Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1991 and was appointed to the Wayne County Corporation Counsel in 1995.

In 1998, Granholm ran for attorney general of Michigan and won against Republican candidate John Smietanka. She ran for governor of Michigan in 2002 and became the state’s first female governor. She was re-elected in 2006.

Granholm was part of the team that helped President Barack Obama prepare for his job before he became president in 2009. After leaving public office, she worked at the University of California, Berkeley. She and her husband, Daniel Mulhern, wrote a book titled A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Future, which was published in 2011. She also hosted a television show called The War Room with Jennifer Granholm. In 2017, she became a political contributor for CNN.

After President-elect Joe Biden announced his plan to name Granholm as the head of the United States Department of Energy in 2020, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2021. After completing her term as secretary, she joined DGA Group.

Early life and education

Granholm was born on February 5, 1959, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Shirley Alfreda (née Dowden) and Victor Ivar Granholm, both of whom worked as bank tellers. Her maternal grandfather was from Ireland, and her maternal grandmother was from Newfoundland. Her paternal grandfather was Hugo "Anders" Granholm, who moved to Penny, British Columbia, Canada, in the late 1920s from Robertsfors, Sweden. His father had been the mayor of Robertsfors. Maud Olofsson, who once served as Sweden’s Minister for Enterprise and Energy and as deputy prime minister, currently lives in Robertsfors. When Granholm and Olofsson met in Sweden, the media reported that Olofsson’s husband is a relative of Granholm. Granholm’s paternal grandmother was Judith Olivia Henriette (Solstad) Granholm, who emigrated from Gjerstad in southern Norway. She traveled by ship from Oslo to Halifax and then by train to Penny, British Columbia, where her uncles and others had created a small logging village.

When Granholm was four years old, her family moved to California. She lived in Anaheim, San Jose, and San Carlos. She attended Ida Price Junior High and Del Mar High School before graduating from San Carlos High School in 1977. She won the Miss San Carlos beauty pageant. As a young adult, she tried to start a career in Hollywood acting but stopped trying when she was 21. In 1978, she appeared on The Dating Game. She worked as a tour guide at Universal Studios, in customer service at the Los Angeles Times, and as the first female tour guide at Marine World/Africa USA in Redwood City, where she led boat tours with 25 passengers.

In 1980, at age 21, Granholm became a U.S. citizen. She worked for John B. Anderson’s campaign for president of the United States as an Independent in the 1980 election. She then attended the University of California, Berkeley, becoming the first person in her family to go to college. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated in 1984 with a B.A. in political science and French. During a year in France, she helped transport clothing and medical supplies to Jewish people in the Soviet Union and joined the anti-apartheid movement. She later earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University with honors in 1987. At Harvard Law School, Granholm served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

Early career

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Granholm worked as a clerk for Judge Damon Keith, a high-ranking judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, from 1987 to 1988. She also worked for the 1988 presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis. From 1989 to 1991, she served as an attorney in the Wayne County executive office. In 1991, Granholm became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. There, she helped to prosecute drug dealers, gang members, and child pornographers, sued the state, and worked to stop credit card fraud. Out of 154 people she tried in court, 151 were found guilty. In 1995, she was appointed as Corporation Counsel for Wayne County, the youngest person to hold that position. In this role, Granholm defended the county against lawsuits, sued the state over road taxes, and worked to enforce environmental laws.

Michigan Attorney General (1999–2003)

After thirty-seven years as attorney general, Frank J. Kelley, a member of the Democratic Party, decided not to run for a tenth term in 1998. This allowed Granholm to enter the race to replace him. She did not face competition for the Democratic nomination and then ran against John Smietanka, a Republican candidate and former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan, in the general election. The campaign started with both candidates agreeing on goals, such as expanding the Internet Crimes Unit, creating neighborhood-based crime-fighting programs, and continuing to support consumer rights, as Kelley had done.

In mid-September, the race became more difficult when Smietanka ran television ads that called Granholm "inexperienced" and "dangerous." He also tried to connect her to Geoffrey Fieger, a Democratic candidate for governor, whose crime plan suggested longer prison terms for non-violent criminals. Granholm denied these claims, calling them lies and stating that as attorney general, she would protect people from misleading ads. She also said that honesty was a key difference between her and Smietanka. Kelley supported Granholm, appearing in an ad that criticized Smietanka’s campaign as dishonest. Smietanka was upset when Democratic ads mentioned his past child support payments and claimed he had lied about how much money he donated to his campaign.

The election was very close, with polls showing nearly equal support for both candidates. Granholm won by 1,557,310 votes (52.09%) to Smietanka’s 1,432,604 votes (47.91%). After Granholm became governor in 2002, Smietanka and John Engler, the Republican governor at the time, argued about who was most responsible for Granholm’s political success. Smietanka blamed Engler for pushing him out of the 1998 race in favor of G. Scott Romney, for bringing up his missed child support payments, and for not supporting him after he won the Republican convention. Engler argued that Smietanka was not a strong candidate and should have stepped aside for Romney, who would have defeated Granholm.

Granholm took office as attorney general on January 1, 1999, becoming the first woman to hold the position in Michigan. She served one term, from 1999 to 2003. During her time in office, she continued Kelley’s work to protect citizens and consumers. She also created Michigan’s first High Tech Crime Unit and appointed Terrence Berg as its first chief.

In April 1999, Granholm filed a lawsuit against RVP Development, the company that built the Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course. She claimed that poor construction caused illegal sediment to flow into Lake Michigan after heavy storms in 1998. RVP Development’s president, Richard Postma, refused to pay a $425,000 fine, saying he had taken steps to stop erosion and accusing Granholm of trying to use him as an example for her political goals. Granholm responded by criticizing Postma’s understanding of Michigan’s politics and his ability to build golf courses. The lawsuit was settled in August 2003, with RVP Development agreeing to pay a $125,000 fine.

During her time as attorney general, Granholm strongly opposed the Naked Mile event at the University of Michigan, which led to the event being canceled in 2000. In July 2000, Granholm’s office reached a settlement with J.C. Penney after the company made repeated pricing errors in Michigan stores. The company agreed to pay a fine and hire workers to check for pricing mistakes.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Granholm worked with state agencies and lawmakers to ensure Michigan’s efforts to fight terrorism stayed within the state’s legal powers. She also required gasoline dealers to avoid sharply increasing prices, which had happened in some areas of Michigan after the attacks. In February 2002, Granholm announced that her office would partner with the AARP Michigan State Office to help consumers deal with unwanted telemarketing calls.

Governor of Michigan (2003–2011)

In the 2002 election, John Engler, the Republican governor, could not run for a fourth term because of term limits. The Republicans chose Dick Posthumus, Engler’s lieutenant governor, as their candidate. At the same time, Jennifer Granholm faced competition in the Democratic primary from James Blanchard, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada and governor, and David E. Bonior, a former U.S. House Minority Whip. Blanchard had lost to Engler in 1990, and Bonior had left his House position to run for governor after his district was redrawn to make it hard for him to win.

Granholm was seen as a new leader after the long Engler administration. She raised more money than Blanchard and Bonior and led them in polls by large amounts. Her campaign increased voter turnout among women, and she won the Democratic primary with 499,129 votes (47.69%) compared to Bonior’s 292,958 (27.99%) and Blanchard’s 254,586 (24.32%).

Granholm was the favorite in the general election, with strong support from working women, African-Americans, and voters under 30. She focused on her crime record and was seen as more charismatic than Posthumus. Even though Republicans had a strong year nationwide, gaining control of the U.S. Senate and increasing their power in the House, Granholm defeated Posthumus by 1,633,796 votes (51.42%) to 1,506,104 (47.40%).

Granholm was sworn in as Michigan’s 47th governor on January 1, 2003. She became the state’s first female governor and also its third governor who was not a natural-born U.S. citizen and its fourth governor not born in the United States. Earlier non-natural-born governors included Fred M. Warner, born in England, and John Swainson, born in Canada. George W. Romney, born in Mexico, was a natural-born citizen because his parents were U.S. citizens at the time of his birth.

Granholm focused on attracting young people and businesses through the Cool Cities Initiative. As governor, she joined the National Governors Association, leading its Health and Human Services Committee and co-leading its Health Care Task Force. She also chaired the Midwestern Governors Association. She lived in the official governor’s residence near the Capitol Building.

In her first year, Granholm made budget cuts to address a $1.7 billion deficit (about 2% of the state budget). She opposed proposals to reduce funding for social welfare programs like homeless shelters and mental health services.

Granholm supported education reform from the start of her term. In her 2003 State of the State Address, she launched Project Great Start to improve education for children from birth to age five. This program brought together public and private efforts to help parents learn how to read to their children.

Granholm focused on post-secondary education after Michigan’s manufacturing jobs declined, many of which did not require college degrees. In 2004, she asked Lieutenant Governor John D. Cherry to lead the Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth to double the number of college graduates in Michigan. Many of the commission’s recommendations, such as raising high school graduation standards (The Michigan Merit Curriculum), were passed into law during her term. This required all high school students to take college preparatory courses, including four years of math and English and three years of science and social studies, starting with students who entered high school in 2006.

In 2004, Granholm was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. She also received the Michigan Jaycees “Outstanding Young Michiganders” award and the YWCA “Woman of the Year” award.

During the 2004 presidential election, Granholm supported Democratic candidate John Kerry, emphasizing the economy as the main issue for Michiganders. She noted challenges like a growing deficit, falling stock prices, high unemployment, and problems in industries like automotive manufacturing and healthcare.

In February 2005, Michigan’s Republican-led legislature refused to vote on Granholm’s proposed budget, citing concerns about cuts to higher education funding. Earlier, Republicans had criticized Granholm as a “do-nothing governor,” while Democrats accused them of being obstructionist. Granholm presented a budget proposal and demanded a quick response from lawmakers. Republicans later said they wanted more involvement from the legislature in creating the budget.

Michigan’s economy had been losing jobs since 2000, mainly due to the decline of manufacturing. Granholm pushed for economic diversification away from automotive manufacturing. She supported a $2 billion 21st Century Jobs Fund to attract jobs in life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security.

In the 2006 election, Granholm ran for a second term against Republican Dick DeVos. Both campaigns used television ads highlighting Granholm’s efforts to improve the economy and accusing DeVos of cutting jobs during his time at Amway. Granholm won re-election with 56% of the vote, compared to 42% for DeVos and over 1% for minor-party candidates. Her vote share increased by 4.9% from her 2002 election. Her campaign was managed by Howard Edelson.

The 2006 elections returned Democrats to power in the State House of Representatives, while Republicans kept control of the State Senate. This led to a budget showdown in 2007, causing a four-hour shutdown of nonessential state services until a budget was passed. The budget cut services, froze spending on arts programs, raised the state income tax, and added new taxes on businesses like ski lifts and landscaping companies. This sparked calls for a recall campaign against Granholm and lawmakers who supported the tax increases.

The budget crisis caused Standard & Poor’s to lower Michigan’s credit rating from AA to AA−. The crisis also contributed to a decline in the state’s economic standing.

Subsequent career

Jennifer Granholm is a respected teacher of law and public policy at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy and UC Berkeley School of Law. In the fall of 2011, she taught a graduate course called "Governing in Tough Times." She is also a senior research fellow at the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute (BECI). As a senior advisor to The Pew Charitable Trusts' Clean Energy Program and founder of The American Jobs Project at UC Berkeley, Granholm leads efforts to support a national clean energy policy that helps the United States achieve energy independence and grow industries like wind, solar, and advanced batteries. She regularly writes for NBC's political talk show Meet the Press and has co-authored a book with her husband titled A Governor's Story: The Fight For Jobs and America's Economic Future, which was published in September 2011 and discussed lessons from Michigan's experience.

Granholm served on the board of directors of the Dow Chemical Company from March to October 2011. In May 2011, she joined the board of directors of Marinette Marine Corporation, a Wisconsin shipbuilder and defense contractor. She is currently the sponsor of USS Marinette, a warship being built by the company. In August 2013, she joined the board of Talmer Bancorp, a Michigan financial institution, and remained on the board until the bank was sold in September 2016. In August 2016, she joined the board of ChargePoint, a company that manages electric vehicle charging stations. In March 2017, she also joined the board of Proterra, a company that makes electric buses and charging stations.

In October 2011, Current TV announced she would host a new political program called The War Room with Jennifer Granholm as part of its primetime lineup. In January 2013, she left the network after it was sold to Al Jazeera.

In October 2012, Granholm became well-known after giving a speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 6. Her speech focused on the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis, President Obama's decision to help General Motors and Chrysler, the benefits of the bailout for the U.S. economy, and Mitt Romney's opposition to the bailout.

In January 2014, she was chosen to co-chair Priorities USA Action with Jim Messina. She previously said Hillary Clinton was the strongest candidate for the 2016 presidential election if she ran. Granholm supported Clinton over Barack Obama in the 2008 election campaign. She considered running for the U.S. Senate in 2014 to replace retiring Democrat Carl Levin but decided against it.

In August 2015, after Hillary Clinton announced her 2016 presidential campaign, Granholm moved from Priorities USA Action to Correct the Record, a Clinton-aligned political group that allows her to work directly for Clinton's campaign. In August 2016, Granholm was named by Clinton to help plan for her potential presidential transition.

Granholm was considered twice as a possible U.S. Secretary of Energy: first in December 2008 when President-elect Obama was forming his first-term Cabinet, and again in December 2010 when it was rumored that Secretary Steven Chu might resign.

She was also considered twice by President Obama as a potential Supreme Court candidate. In May 2009, she was on the shortlist to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter. She attended a CAFE standards meeting at the White House and spoke with Obama, but officials did not comment on whether they discussed a court appointment. Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor, who was confirmed by the Senate in August. After the retirement of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens in May 2010, Granholm was again mentioned as a possible candidate; Obama chose Elena Kagan, who was confirmed in August.

In March 2011, when Tim Kaine planned to resign as chairman of the Democratic National Committee to run for the U.S. Senate, Granholm was mentioned as a potential successor. However, she said she was not interested, which surprised senior Democrats. U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida was elected instead.

After President Obama was re-elected in 2012, Granholm was reportedly considered for a position in his second-term Cabinet, such as secretary of energy, secretary of transportation, secretary of labor, or attorney general. She downplayed these rumors, citing her criticism of Republicans during the 2012 election and her work on Current TV.

In March 2013, when Michigan's senior U.S. senator, Democrat Carl Levin, announced he would not run for a seventh term in 2014, Granholm was mentioned as a candidate to replace him. However, she said she would not run and endorsed U.S. Representative Gary Peters, who won the election.

In September 2014, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to step down, there were rumors that Granholm might be considered for the position. Loretta Lynch was ultimately nominated and confirmed.

There were rumors that Granholm's increased visibility in the Clinton campaign might make her a candidate for a U.S. Cabinet position or leadership in the Democratic National Committee if Clinton had won the 2016 election.

Secretary of Energy (2021–2025)

Then-President-elect Joe Biden nominated Jennifer Granholm to be the next secretary of energy. Granholm was considered one of Biden's least controversial nominees, gaining support from unions, environmental groups, and some Republicans. Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, who worked with Granholm at UC Berkeley, said she would be "very effective for the Department of Energy" because "she understands the technology, she understands how to implement it, and she knows how to manage a large organization." She appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 27, 2021. The committee approved her nomination in a 13–4 vote on February 3, 2021. She was confirmed by the Senate in a 64–35 vote on February 25, 2021, and was sworn into office later that day by Vice President Kamala Harris. She is the first secretary of energy born outside the United States.

In April 2021, she stated that President Joe Biden has a goal of achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions for the United States by 2050. She said this requires finding ways to reduce carbon emissions from the fossil fuel industry. On May 19, 2022, the Department of Energy announced a $3.5 billion program funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to create four large-scale regional direct air capture hubs. Each hub includes a network of projects designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Granholm had a conversation with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud. They discussed opportunities for greater cooperation in the energy sector. In late 2021, she criticized the OPEC oil cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. gas and petroleum industry for contributing to rising fuel prices in the United States. When asked about plans to increase oil production in the United States, she humorously replied, "That is hilarious. Would that I had the magic wand on this."

Granholm signed a detailed ethics agreement for her role as the top energy official in the government. Later, she violated certain rules outlined in the STOCK Act.

On December 16, 2022, Granholm posthumously cleared J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, of the 1954 revocation of his security clearance. This decision was based on a "flawed investigation."

Post-Biden administration career

After completing her term as Secretary of Energy, Granholm began working as a senior advisor for the lobbying firm DGA Group. In November 2025, Granholm was named co-chair of a committee formed by New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill to examine energy costs in the state.

Personal life

While at Harvard, Granholm met Daniel Mulhern, another law student from Michigan who graduated with a degree in theology from Yale University. They married in 1986 and used each other's last names as their middle names. They have three children.

On October 21, 2010, Granholm was named a Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, First Class, by the King of Sweden. This honor was given for her work in helping to build relationships between Michigan and Sweden to encourage the development of a clean energy economy.

Granholm is Catholic. She converted to Catholicism while studying at Harvard Law School.