Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.

The Harris-Walz campaign is unifying Detroit-area Democrats around the new presidential slate and recruiting Black supporters to spread their message to undecided voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held two Wayne County campaign stops last week. Thousands of supporters came out for a “joyful” rally at an airport hangar in Romulus, and the candidates visited a smaller group of union auto workers in Wayne the next day.

The campaign held curated events to recruit Black surrogates in the last week, including a Monday pep rally for Black women at The Garden Theatre in Detroit.

The event featured California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Wayne County Commission Chair Alisha Bell, Detroit Council President Mary Sheffield, State Rep. Stephanie Young and others. 

“Black women, we turned up and we turned out in record numbers to make history in 2020, and I believe all of us, if we work hard, we will do it again in 2024,” Sheffield said. “We know the power that we hold when we vote: We not only change the outcome of elections, we shape the future of our country, we uplift our families and our communities.”

For decades, Black women have been the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc. Democrats rely on Black women, particularly in metro Detroit, to turn out and help win elections.

That didn’t go unnoticed by attendees or politicians. 

“The importance of voting is connected to our survival,” said Lavonia Perryman Fairfax, a longtime Democratic activist and political commentator. “I was very disturbed by the number of people who did not vote in Detroit (last week). If we don’t vote for ourselves, no one will. We take on the responsibility.”

Monday’s event had a party-like atmosphere. Attendees sipped drinks from the bar and danced to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” amid references to mobilizing “Black girl magic.”

But it also focused on serious issues, including the impact of abortion bans on Black women who face high maternal mortality rates.

Democrats warned of Project 2025, a policy playbook created by a conservative think tank. Proposals that received a spotlight included eliminating the Department of Education, the Head Start preschool services for low-income families and abandoning federal probes into police abuses.

Women who I’ve talked with in the last week said the prospect of a Harris presidency is inspiring more people to volunteer with the campaign. But women are worried about the rising cost of living, and want to hear how Harris will address it.

“I cringe every time I go shopping,” said Royal Oak resident Laura Moore. She brought 10 other Black women with her to the Monday rally in Detroit.

“We’ve always had the power. We’re the ones that care for the community. It’s the grandmothers, the sisters, the aunts. I’m gonna be making calls between now and November saying ‘you better vote.’”

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Wayne County election results delayed

Wayne County election results were posted hours behind other parts of Michigan last week due to a computer glitch and a large number of absentee ballots delivered on Election Day.

A “firewall issue” prevented Detroit and other municipalities from posting results to the Wayne County Clerk’s website, The Detroit Free Press and NBC News reported. Local clerks couldn’t transmit the data electronically, and had to deliver results to the county clerk’s office in Greektown.

Wayne County and Detroit election officials did not respond to requests for comment. 

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers met Tuesday to certify the results.

Michigan law allows clerks to pre-process absentee ballots before an election. This gives clerks a head start on preparing a ballot for tabulation, but votes are not counted until after polls close on Election Day.

Unofficial results show 136,024 absentee ballots were cast in Wayne County, but only 41,564 were preprocessed.

Detroit Elections Administrator Daniel Baxter said 10,000 Detroit absentee ballots were delivered on Election Day, which took more time to process and tabulate.

Detroit cast 39,669 absentee ballots in the February presidential primary

Delays in reporting vote totals and overnight counting of absentee ballots played a central role in false allegations of election interference in 2020.

Election officials said they successfully navigated the issue, and delayed results don’t equate to inaccurate totals.

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Secretary of State targeted in swatting hoax

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said she was the target of a false emergency call meant to swarm her Detroit home with armed police.

Benson was the third Michigan political figure to be “swatted” in the last week. U.S. Senate candidates Elissa Slotkin and Mike Rogers were targeted with similar hoax calls.

Swatting is when someone makes a prank call to police reporting a dangerous situation in an attempt to dispatch armed police to their address. The hoax calls can lead to accidental deaths, which prompted the FBI to create a national database last year to track swatting attempts.

“Swatting is a form of political violence that is horrific, dangerous and intended to terrify its victims,” Benson said in a statement. “But hear me clearly: I will not be intimidated.”

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False claims of Harris rally crowd fall short 

Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Harris’ campaign rally last week in Romulus used artificial intelligence to inflate the crowd size.

BridgeDetroit was among dozens of news outlets that independently documented the event with hundreds of images showing attendees from multiple angles.

There’s no doubt it was a large crowd, with thousands of attendees standing inside and outside the aircraft hangar for several hours.

The claim centers on what’s visible on the reflection curved metal panels of Air Force Two. The crowd was kept far from the vice president’s plane, so it’s not surprising that the reflection didn’t capture the crowd in its entirety.

Here are more images photographer Quinn Banks took for BridgeDetroit

Not convinced? Here’s a pretty thorough breakdown of why the reflection theory falls short. 

Videos circulating the conspiracy on social media have included AI-generated images, but those didn’t come from the Harris-Walz campaign or news sources. Accounts spreading the false claims have apparently used their own manipulated images to promote the hoax.

I joined my colleagues at Bridge Michigan for a conversion on what we should take from the size of rally crowds, and what voter enthusiasm looks like in metro Detroit.

Watch the full episode by clicking the image below or on YouTube. Bridge Michigan’s elections FAQ returns Mondays at 11:30 a.m. Sign up online to join the next free event.

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Detroit parks get WiFi access 

One of Detroit’s most popular public parks is receiving free wireless internet through a project started last year.

Clark Park is the latest to receive public WiFi through a partnership between the Detroit Parks Coalition, Connect 313, philanthropies and community partners.

The project was funded by $265,000 in grants from the Detroit Pistons, Rocket Community Fund and Knight Foundation.

Funding covered installation and service for five years provided by Cornus Internet and the installation of solar power charging stations.

WiFi accessibility was also installed at Bradby, Chandler, McDuffy and Palmer parks.

More than 25,000 people have used the Wi-Fi networks since installation, according to Connect 313.

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SMART bus operators reach contract agreement

Bus operators with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) are receiving a 24% wage increase, becoming the highest-paid drivers in Michigan.

SMART operators had been working without a contract since the end of 2022. Bus drivers and union supporters picketed a July SMART Board of Directors meeting, arguing that higher wages will help address driver shortages.

A new contract was approved with the Amalgamated Transit Union this month.

It includes another 8% wage increase starting in 2025, a $2,000 bonus for ATU members, an enhanced retirement plan, improved health benefits, increased tuition reimbursement programs, a new student loan repayment program, additional paid holidays and other benefits.

SMART General Manager Dwight Ferrell said the contract marks an “unprecedented investment” in strengthening the regional transit system.

Starting next year, the full 32% increase will provide a starting wage of $26.95 an hour. That’s significantly more than what Detroit bus drivers earn.

A pay increase secured at the start of this year brought the starting wage to $19.15 per hour for Detroit Department of Transportation operators.