• Former President Barack Obama made a stop in Detroit Tuesday evening for the Harris-Waltz campaign
• He encouraged the crowd to vote, noting that early in-person voting in Detroit began Saturday and statewide on Oct. 26.
• Obama’s actions underscore the tight battle for critical electoral votes in Michigan

DETROIT – Former President Barack Obama rallied a large crowd in Detroit Tuesday evening on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, underscoring the importance of voting in what is expected to be a very close election.

“Whether this election makes you excited or scared, hopeful or frustrated or anything in between, don’t sit back and hope for the best… get off your couch and vote,” Obama said in a speech at the Huntington Place convention center in Washington. downtown Detroit, his latest in a series of swing state rallies for Harris.

Obama’s visit came on the fourth day of early in-person voting in Detroit, a longtime Democratic stronghold where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has enticed black voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The convention center in downtown Detroit was one of the most memorable locations of the 2020 presidential election, where supporters of Donald Trump protested the counting of ballots, which did not end until about 24 hours after voting. On Tuesday, the center was packed with Democrats hoping they could once again deny Trump critical electoral votes from the swing state.

Among the speakers were Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s two Democratic senators, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running to replace the retiring Stabenow.

“In Congress, she has worked on issues that matter to you, like reducing prescription drug costs, bringing supply chains back to the U.S. and creating good jobs here in Michigan,” Obama said of Slotkin, while he encouraged the approximately 12,000 people in attendance to vote for her. “This is the kind of person we need in Washington because presidents can’t do it alone.”