GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will both be scouring for votes in Michigan on Friday as they try to lock down support in this key political battleground.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to begin her day in Grand Rapids for a rally with other Democratic leaders. She then goes to Lansing, where she’ll speak at a United Auto Workers union hall and promote the White House’s record of supporting domestic car manufacturing.
Her final event of the day is a rally in Oakland County, which is northwest of Detroit.
Trump, the Republican former president, has his own event in Oakland County in the afternoon before holding a rally in Detroit in the evening.
Michigan is one of three “blue wall” states that, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will help decide the election.
Detroit spent years hemorrhaging residents and businesses, plunging into deep financial problems, before rebounding in recent years.
One challenge for Harris in Michigan has been union support. Although traditionally a Democratic bloc, she’s failed to win some key endorsements.
In addition, Arab American voters have been skeptical of Harris because of the White House’s steadfast support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a co-chair of Harris’ campaign, said in an interview Thursday that the expectation was always that “it was going to be a close election.”
“People are like, ‘Oh it’s so close.’ And I’m like, have you not been listening for decades?” Whitmer said. “Michigan is a divided state. And that’s why we don’t write off the reddest of areas on a political map. We show up.”