Michigan’s importance continues to show as Harris, Trump, and Vance all visited the state this week
LANSING — This week, the campaign trains kept chugging on as both the Trump and Harris campaigns visited Michigan to energize voters during the week of National Voter Registration Day on the 17th. While Trump and Vance spread misinformation and fueled extremist fires, Vice President Kamala Harris held a hybrid digital event, hosted by Oprah, to connect grassroots organizations across the country.
Michigan Dems also celebrated National Voter Registration Day by highlighting the work Dems are doing across the state and encouraging everyone to check their registration before November’s election. From phonebanks to barbeques, Dems are building stronger, larger coalitions every day to defeat Trump’s MAGA agenda once again.
It was a busy week once again, but, like Governor Tim Walz says, “We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”
Check out the highlights from this week below:
Tuesday was jam-packed with celebrations of National Voter Registration Day and rejections of Trump and Vance’s separate far-right visits. Thankfully, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes was instrumental in hitting back against the misinformation Trump and Vance inevitably spread and encouraging Michiganders to register to vote:
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- The Michigan Democratic Party released a statement Tuesday night after Trump’s visit: “Today’s visit once again demonstrated that this election will be a choice between two very different economic visions: Kamala Harris’ New Way Forward that builds up the middle class, versus Trump’s vision that helps billionaires and big corporations at working families’ expense.
- Michiganders won’t be fooled by the lies that Trump spews — which is why over 40,000 Michiganders have signed up to knock doors, send out texts, and make sure that we elect Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz this November, and send these extremists packing.” – Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes
P.S. You can check your registration here!
That night, Chair Barnes went on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell to talk about the stakes of this election, and how personal these issues are for her, and for Americans across the country. She reminded voters that we deserve better than Donald Trump and his policies that will endanger us all:
Chair Barnes also hit the airwaves here in Michigan to tell voters that they need to get out and vote! Democrats are connecting with voters in their communities all across the state because as the Chair puts it, “we take no vote for granted”:
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- Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said their hitting the campaign trail just as hard, connecting with voters in their own communities. “It’s things like going to beauty shops and barber shops,” she said. “It’s things like barbecues and other events in the community where folks can come by, get some good food, some ice cream, and a little bit of politics on the side.”
- Barnes said the party’s efforts also include voter education to keep people informed about options for voting they may not know are available. “We take no vote for granted,” Barnes told News 10.
On Thursday, before hundreds of thousands of people viewed Vice President Kamala Harris and Oprah, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes applauded the Harris-Walz campaign’s continued dedication to Michigan. As a battleground state, Harris and Walz know that they have to show up and earn every vote here:
“We are proud to have the Vice President back in Michigan, building a strong coalition to defeat Trump this November. Thanks to our diversity and grit, Michigan is the perfect place for Harris to hold this event, Unite for America, because Michigan looks like America.
“Tonight, we will see thousands of people coming together to fight for a better, brighter future for us all with Vice President Harris and Governor Walz in the White House. This campaign has come to Michigan again and again because Vice President Harris knows that the road to the White House runs through Michigan, and we are proud to be fighting every day to ensure we elect her this November.”
Chair Barnes also spoke with CNN on Thursday, just hours before the campaign event, about the state of the race and the feeling of voters on the ground – let’s be clear, the only poll we care about is the one on election day, and we won’t stop working till we’re through the finish line:
Vice Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and state Representative Jason Morgan followed the Chair’s lead this week, highlighting Michigan values and the voters’ attitudes ahead of the Harris event. With the week’s many visits and the heated race, Morgan called out the need for common decency and respect this year:
And now, for our favorite segment, here are our favorite tweets from the week:
Thanks for showing up for us this week, we look forward to showing up for you next week and every week after that. Til then.
Signing off,
Michigan Dems
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