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    • Harris often visited Trump Michigan during bids for the White House
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    Harris often visited Trump Michigan during bids for the White House

    Vaseline Posted on

    In a fierce race for the White House, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican rival former President Donald Trump focused attention on Michigan, making the battleground state a frequent stop on the campaign trail as they rally supporters ahead of Election Day Tuesday.

    Their running mates followed in their footsteps as frequent visitors to Mitten State.

    Michigan is one of the swing states that could decide who wins the presidency.

    Number of visits to Michigan

    Harris spent 16 days in Michigan this election year. She made four of those stops before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and she launched her presidential campaign at the last minute. Her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, spent 10 days campaigning in Michigan.

    On the Republican side, Trump spent 17 days campaigning in Michigan this year, and his Ohio running mate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, spent 12 days in the state.

    A look at the popular stops

    Wayne County – Michigan’s most populous county and its most diverse – saw the largest number of candidate stops. The county is home to Detroit and a Democratic stronghold, although it has red areas, especially downstream.

    Kent County had the second highest number of candidate visits. Kent County is its own battleground in a battleground state. Since 2008, every presidential candidate who won Kent County ultimately won Michigan, except Mitt Romney in 2012. Trump carried Kent County en route to his upset victory in Michigan in 2016, beating Hillary Clinton by about three percentage points. With Harris in his name, Biden flipped the county four years later, beating Trump by six percentage points in 2020.

    Oakland County is Michigan’s wealthiest county, and it was once again a frequent stop for the presidential candidates and their running mates. Trump held his first campaign rally in Michigan this year in February at an airport hangar in Waterford, where his supporters stood in subzero temperatures to see him. Oakland County is also where Harris held an event with Republican former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in a quest to court conservative voters.

    Macomb and Saginaw counties were also popular stops on the Michigan campaign trail this year. Trump won Macomb County — home to the so-called “Reagan Democrats” — in both 2016 and 2020. Trump won Saginaw County in 2016, but Biden won it in 2020. Since 1992, the presidential candidate who won the county has also won statewide won.

    As the candidates crossed Michigan, no presidential or vice presidential candidates stopped in the Upper Peninsula.

    Election night rallies

    Following a Trump tradition, the Republican presidential candidate returned to Grand Rapids again this year for an election night rally. Trump also ended his 2016 and 2020 campaigns there. Walz held a competing late-night rally Monday at Detroit’s Hart Plaza with musical performances from the Detroit Youth Choir, Jon Bon Jovi and The War and Treaty.

    Staff writers Paul Egan and Arpan Lobo contributed to this report

    Contact Clara Hendrickson at [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @clarajanehen.

    Want to know more about this year’s Michigan elections? Check out our voter guide, subscribe to our election newsletter, and feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor.

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