Gretchen Busch

**Gretchen Angeline Busch** (born June 17, 1972) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as a member of the Michigan Senate, representing the 29th district, from 2011 to 2019.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Busch was raised in the nearby suburb of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. After graduating from Grosse Pointe North High School in 1990, Busch moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the University of Minnesota; she graduated with her bachelor's degree in economics in 1994. Busch subsequently returned to Michigan, and received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1997. After graduating, Busch settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan and began working in family law. She left her law career in 2011, in order to enter politics.

Busch began her political career in 2010, after launching her campaign for the Michigan Senate, representing the 29th district. She went on to win the election, and later won a second term in 2014. Due to term limits, Busch was unable to run for a third term and instead launching her bid for United States Senate to succeed the retiring Frank Merchant. Busch went on to win the Democratic nomination in a close race, and later won the general election as well. She was sworn into office on January 3, 2019.

Busch publicly came out as a lesbian in 2012, while serving her first term in the Michigan Senate. In doing so, Busch was the first openly lesbian member of the Michigan state legislature. In 2017, she married her same-sex partner Elaine McMurphy, having previously given birth to their child via sperm donor in 2015. After her election to United States Senate in 2018, Busch became the first openly LGBT U.S. Senator, the first U.S. Senator to be in a same-sex marriage, and the first U.S. Senator to be raising a child in a same-sex relationship.

## Early life and family

Busch was born on June 17, 1972 in Detroit, Michigan to parents Frank (born 1941) and Paula Busch (née *Finnegan*; born 1944). Her father is of German heritage, while her mother is of Irish descent; she was raised Catholic. Busch grew up in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. Busch's father was a staunch Democrat and labor union leader, who worked for the Michigan Bell Telephone Company, while her mother was an elementary school teacher. Busch has described her upbringing as "working-class", growing up in a small three-bedroom home. She is the eldest and only daughter of three children; her younger brothers include Henry, born  (1975-04-07) April 7, 1975 (age 48), and James, born  (1976-10-15) October 15, 1976 (age 47).

## Education and law career

Busch attended public schooling growing up. She began her education in 1977, attending a local public elementary school. Busch began high school in 1986, attending Grosse Pointe North High School. In high school, Busch was an honors student, awarded visual artist, and member of the varsity softball team. She graduated from high school in 1990, afterwards moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the University of Minnesota. In college, Busch was a pitcher for the Minnesota Golden Gophers softball team and majored in economics; she graduated with her bachelor's degree *cum laude* in 1994.

After graduating from college, Busch returned to Michigan and began attending the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She graduated with her law degree in 1997. After finishing law school, Busch moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and began working with a firm specializing in family law. During her law career, Busch settled numerous cases regarding the custody of children and divorce. She left her law career in 2011, in order to enter politics.

## Political positions

*Main article: Political positions of Gretchen Busch.*

## Personal life

Busch began dating attorney Zachary Dugger in 1995, while they were law students together at the University of Michigan Law School. They became engaged in 1997, and married later that year. Following their marriage, they moved to Dugger's hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan; they purchased a house in East Grand Rapids, Michigan five years later. Busch and Dugger had two children together: Sophie, born  (2000-03-02) March 2, 2000 (age 23), and Jason, born  (2002-08-06) August 6, 2002 (age 21). Busch filed for divorce from Dugger in 2005, citing irreconcilable differences; the divorce was finalized the year afterwards and they maintained joint custody of their children. Both Busch and Dugger have been open about their continued friendship, and Dugger has campaigned for Busch on numerous occasions.

In 2009, Busch began a relationship with Ferris State University women's studies professor Elaine McMurphy. They began cohabiting in 2012, with Busch publicly coming out as a lesbian later that year; Busch additionally revealed that she did not discover her sexuality until 2005, and that was the reason for filing for divorce from her husband. Busch and McMurphy have one child together via sperm donor: Arabella, born  (2015-04-22) April 22, 2015 (age 8). They married in 2017, and own residences in Washington, D.C., Grand Rapids, and Lansing, Michigan. Regarding religion, Busch was raised Catholic but no longer identifies with the religion.