Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is slated to visit Detroit next week with her to-be-announced running mate, according to her campaign through White house pool reports.
Harris and her future vice presidential pick are expected to crisscross the country on a tour of battleground states that stretches from Las Vegas to Philadelphia next week.
The exact date and location of the event in Detroit has not yet been made public.
After President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid July 21 in the face of growing Democratic discontent, Harris quickly began to consolidate support among key Democrats. Delegates intend to hold a virtual vote next week to formalize her nomination ahead of their convention which begins Aug. 19.
Michigan Democratic Party delegates earlier this month voted with near-unanimous support to assign their newly unbound votes to Harris.
Her potential running mates include several Democratic governors, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to reports from Axios and other outlets,
Speculation has also spread, however, to Michigan U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, whose name has emerged as a “dark horse” candidate, though he hasn’t confirmed whether he entered the campaign’s vetting process.
Harris has told reporters a final decision has not yet been made, but one is expected within the next week.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also been dogged by speculation. first that she could replace Biden and later that she could be Harris’ partner. Whitmer has firmly denied the scuttlebutt, telling reporters. “I’m not leaving Michigan.”
Polling in the presidential race, where Harris is expected to face former President Donald Trump in less than 100 days, has tightened in recent days. Several robust polls have indicated Harris and Trump are statistically tied in Michigan, which is set to be a crucial battleground in the final stretch to the Nov. 5 general election.
Detroit, the state’s largest city, has become a focal point. Trump has attempted to make inroads in the Democratic stronghold, courting Black voters in a June roundtable at a local church.
Biden beat Trump in Detroit by a wide margin in 2020 — 228,047 votes, or 94% of all ballots cast — but Trump improved his vote total in the city by 6,154 votes compared to 2016.
Some local Democrats like Wayne County Executive Warren Evans had sounded alarm bells earlier this year, warning the party and Biden campaign of apathy among Black voters heading into the fall.
But Evans this week praised Harris, saying he now has “a presidential candidate that I can support 1,000%.” There’s “not really a choice here,” he said Wednesday. “Kamala Harris has the background, she has worked for the last four years to help get us where we are.”
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