Mich. Democrats seek reset with Harris at top of ticket

Michigan Democrats are seeking a messaging reset with party leaders holding events around the state as Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to be their party’s presidential candidate.

Earlier statewide polls showed President Joe Biden struggling following a poor debate performance last month against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. That was before the assassination attempt on Trump and before Biden bowed out of the race for president. Michigan Democrats are anxious now to turn the page.

“I think, as President Biden said, it was time to pass the torch to the next generation. I, for one, as a Gen X-er, would be thrilled to see myself and my generation represented in the White House,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “Kamala Harris is the perfect transition candidate.”

At an event in Lansing, Nessel said Harris will bring a fresh perspective to the job of being a candidate and, if elected, to being president.

“She’ll have a lot of policies in common with President Biden, but, you know, I guess, she will have her own agenda, as well,” she said.

State Representative Kara Hope (D-Holt) said she is already seeing a shift.

“There’s work to do, for sure,” she said. “But we’re moving in the right direction, especially with certain constituencies – young people, people of color, we’re making gains there already and I think that bodes well for November.”

The stakes are not only Michigan’s 15 electoral votes, but the top of the ticket will also affect close congressional races, a competitive race for an open U.S. Senate seat, and Democrats’ control of the Michigan House of Representatives.

“Keeping the majority in the state House is going to be very pivotal,” said state Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing). “And I think the decisions that were made over the weekend and the fact that the party and the delegates have all come around Vice President Harris is going to really bode well here in Michigan for those that are running for Congress as well as keeping the House in Democratic control.”

Republicans say the change at the top of the ticket will not change their strategy in Michigan – a critical swing state that went for Trump in his 2016 race against former U.S. Senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton then flipped to Biden in 2020.

“Dangerously liberal Kamala Harris is responsible for every struggle Michiganders have faced over the last three and a half years,” said Michigan Trump campaign spokesperson Victoria LaCivita. “Her policies led to skyrocketing inflation, inability to afford gas and groceries, violent crime at the hands of illegal immigrants, and a California-elitist obsession with electric vehicles.”

Trump is the official GOP nominee following the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this month. Harris must still be formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago.