Michelle Obama, in her first general campaign event of this US election, will join Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Michigan on Saturday, while Republican candidate Donald Trump holds his rally in the battleground state.
With about 8.4 million registered voters and 15 Electoral College votes out of the 270 needed to win, Michigan is one of seven competitive US states that will decide the election results.
It is part of the “Blue Wall” that is considered the Democrats’ best chance to elect Harris, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In Michigan, Harris and Trump are competing for voters with large Arab-American and Muslim populations, and union workers are concerned about how electric cars could reshape the US auto industry, which is headquartered in Detroit, the state’s largest city.
Former President Trump courted auto workers by promising tax breaks on auto loans and cracking down on Chinese car sales.
Earlier this month, he made damaging remarks about Detroit, a majority-black city that Republicans have criticized for its crime rates, even as they have declined significantly in recent years.
“Our entire country will end up like Detroit if she is your president,” he said of Harris.
Harris and Obama are expected to focus on the contrast between Harris and Trump on abortion rights, taxes, unions, and tariffs. Harris’ rally is scheduled to be held in the southern city of Kalamazoo, while Trump’s rally will be held in the Detroit suburb of Novi, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) away.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Harris leading Trump nationally by a marginal margin of 46% to 43%. In Michigan, Harris has a smaller lead — 47.6% to 47.1%, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
Democratic President Joe Biden, Harris’ president, won the state of Michigan by 150,000 votes in the 2020 elections against Trump, with a difference of less than 3%, while Trump won by 11,000 votes in 2016.
Since the 2020 election, Michigan has instituted early in-person voting for the first time and begun allowing jurisdictions with more than 5,000 people to begin processing and tabulating mail-in ballots eight days before Election Day on November 5.
The Michigan Department of State said Friday that 19.5% of Michigan’s registered voters, or nearly 1.42 million people, have cast ballots so far. There were only 10,900 early in-person votes cast, with the remainder returned to absentee ballots.
“Celebrity Attraction”
Michelle Obama, the popular wife of former President Barack Obama, is the latest example of Democrats relying on star power in the final days of the election cycle.
Musicians Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé have campaigned with the vice president in recent days.
Trump, who will also travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday, was attended by figures such as retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and musician Kid Rock.
In August, Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention, where she attacked Trump, criticizing his character and the racist attacks that have targeted her and her husband in the past.
She mocked Trump for his reference during the campaign to unspecified “black jobs” that he said immigrants were taking away from black Americans.
Obama asked: “Who will tell him that the job he is currently looking for might just be one of those black jobs?”
Before Biden withdrew from the race in July, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Michelle Obama led Trump by 50% to 39% in a hypothetical competition. She has repeatedly said that she does not intend to run for president.