The swing state supported former President Donald Trump in 2016 before President Joe Biden swung it back to Democrats in 2020. And recent polls have shown Harris with a relatively sustainable lead over Trump in the state.
But Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s two-term Democratic governor and co-chair of Harris’ presidential campaign, doesn’t buy that rosy scenario.
In her speech Thursday at the Texas Tribune Festival, Whitmer said she believed Harris could win Michigan in November, but warned the results would be closer than polls have indicated. During her speech, the governor referred to a recent CNN/SSRS poll that showed Harris ahead of Trump by 48% to 43%.
“It makes me nervous to see a poll that says Kamala Harris is currently up five points in Michigan,” she said. “That’s just not true.”
“It’s going to be a very close race,” she continued. “I believe we can win it. And I believe we will. But it’s going to be very close.”
Democratic presidential candidates won Michigan in every election between 1992 and 2012. But Trump won the state in 2016 by winning over a portion of working-class and union voters who have long been a key part of the Democratic coalition in the state. Some of those voters backed Biden in 2020 and remain in the running heading into November.
Trump has campaigned in the state in recent weeks and sought to win support from union leaders in a state Whitmer has described as a “microcosm” of the United States.
“As I look at these polls, I say to everyone: Don’t be complacent,” Whitmer said during her speech. “You can’t rest on your laurels for Michigan.”
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