Black voters could prove pivotal as Trump and Harris battle it out in Michigan

Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a service at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ on November 03, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. With 2 days remaining before Election Day, Harris continues rallying with supporters in the battleground swing state of Michigan while campaigning against Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump. | Brandon Bell/

On Sunday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris began her last scheduled campaign swing through Michigan before Election Day worshipping at Detroit's Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ.

Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants who is Baptist, has the last four Sundays speaking at Black churches across the country.

"Growing up in a church, I learned that faith is a verb, and we show it in our actions, in our deeds, in our service and in hard times," Harris told the congregation.

"I see faith in action in remarkable ways," she added and then channeled former President Barack Obama's seminal about bridging America's divides during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

"I see a nation determined to turn the page on hate and division and chart a new way forward," Harris said. "As I travel, I see Americans from so-called red states and so-called blue states who are ready to bend the arc of history toward justice."

The church's pastor, Bishop John Drew Sheard, said a prayer for Harris.

"In the name of Jesus, give her wisdom ... give her what she needs," Sheard said. "In the name of Jesus, we speak victory."

And in order to secure victory on Tuesday, Harris will need to win over enough Black voters in Michigan, a critical swing state with a 14% African-American population. Detroit — Michigan's largest city — is 78% Black.

African-American voters, particularly women, are Democrats' most reliable voting bloc. Associated Press exit polling showed 93% of Black Michigan voters in the 2020 presidential election cast a ballot for Democratic President Joe Biden, who won Detroit 94% to 5% over former President Donald Trump.

After he lost the 2020 election, Trump and his supporters , without evidence, against voter fraud in Motown. The Republican pushed for the board of canvassers in Wayne County — where Detroit is located — not to certify the vote.

But Democrats are concerned that hasn't helped them lock down enough voters in Detroit, as most polling has shown that Trump has made inroads with Black men. That pattern began when Biden was still running for president before withdrawing from the race in late July and has plagued Harris' campaign.

The Michigan Advance interviewed more than a dozen African-American voters and leaders in the state for this story and found their concerns this election are centered on voting rights and civil rights, education, the economy, reproductive freedom and federal support for home buying and entrepreneurship.

An August NAACP survey Harris up 63% to 13% with Black voters over Trump, but 26% of Black men under 50 years old said they supported Trump and 49% who backed Harris.

during an October interview with influential radio host Charlamagne Tha God that she knows she has to "earn" Black men's votes, just as she does with all Americans.

To that end, she has held a number of small events at Black-owed businesses, like the CRED Café, a Detroit coffee shop and event space owned by former NBA players Joe and Jordan Crawford. After church on Sunday, she joined Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan at Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles in Detroit.

She's unveiled her " Opportunity Agenda ," which includes down-payment assistance to first-time homebuyers, forgivable loans to entrepreneurs, a federal ban on corporate price-gouging for food and groceries, legalizing marijuana at the federal level and a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men.

Detroit Vs Everybody founder Tommey Walker Jr. — who presented Harris with his signature shirt last which Harris wore to a Detroit get-out-the-vote event with singer Lizzo — said he appreciated that her plan would help Black entrepreneurs take care of their parents into retirement.

"That really struck a chord with me, because, you know, being a Black man in society, you want to take care of your parents," Walker said. "... It just really makes me feel good to think that the vice president cares, you know, about my real-life worries."

It appears that Harris has made some progress, as the latest NAACP survey

Trump speaks at 180 Church

Trump has also made several campaign stops in Detroit this year in his quest to win Michigan and a larger share of the African-American vote.

In fact, after the former president was of 34 felonies in May in a hush money case tied to the 2016 election, his first stop in Michigan was at 180 Church in Detroit whose controversial pastor , Lorenzo Sewell, would later the Republican National Convention.

Trump, who is facing dozens of other felony charges in other cases, argues that he's a victim of political prosecution and has contended that this will help him win over African-American voters.

"I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time and a lot of people said that that's why the Black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against," Trump in February. "And they actually viewed me as I'm being discriminated against."

Trump added he thinks "that's why the Black people are so much on my side now because they see what's happening to me happens to them."

In Detroit, Trump was joined by Black GOP leaders, including U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and John James (R-Shelby Twp.).

Trump has promised that his reelection will mean less crime and an even better economy. He claimed that he has done "more for the Black population than any American president since Abraham Lincoln," while adding that Biden, his rival at the time, was "all talk."

While Republicans make noises about playing for Detroit and Black voters every election, this time seemed different — even to Democrats. Trump scored a number of endorsements from Black celebrities, including Amber Rose, Waka Flocka Flame, Kodak Black, Lil Pump and Trick Trick, which the campaign trumpeted as part of its to appeal to sporadic male voters.

Nationally, the GOP appeared to also be making inroads with Latino voters and young male voters. And in Michigan, there were signs the party was hemorrhaging Muslim and Arab-American voters furious over Biden's support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

In March, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans warned that African-American voters were not going to turn out for President Joe Biden and other Democrats in 2024.

"The Democratic Party not only has an Arab problem, it has a Black problem," Evans in an opinion piece published by the Detroit Free Press. "That should come as no surprise, when you consider the fact that the party has consistently failed to adequately engage with Black elected leadership. The first step in correcting that problem is for the party to acknowledge the problem. The next step is to fix it."

Shortly before the 180 Church event, the former president announced his "Black Americans for Trump" coalition, which included rapper Kodak Black, former boxer Mike Tyson and boxing promoter Don King and former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The Democrat was convicted in federal court in 2013 on several public corruption crimes, earning a 28-year sentence, but Trump Kilpatrick's sentence during his final days in office in 2021.

"I can never thank President Trump enough for what he's done for me and my family by giving me freedom. But I believe this election and the issues involved are personal to every family and every person in America," Kilpatrick said in a statement.

In announcing the coalition, the Trump campaign played up the Republican's record on unemployment rates for Black Americans, funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Opportunity Zones providing economic development in communities and criminal justice reform.

"For far too long, the Democrat Party and Joe Biden have taken black voters for granted. Biden's policies have been devastating to minorities. The economy, hyperinflation, crime, and Biden's alarming migrant crisis have disproportionately harmed voters of color. This is why I am confident that black voters will deliver their verdict on Biden's Presidency this November," said U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) in a statement.

The group also includes Michiganders Linda Tarver, a former state school board candidate and longtime GOP activist; Bernadette Smith, the Michigan GOP ethnic vice chair; and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, a Detroit native.

"President Trump is not your typical politician," Carson said at the church event. "He doesn't run around with his finger in the air seeing which way the wind is blowing."

Several weeks later, the presidential campaign was upended when Trump an assassination attempt at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pa., amid security failures from the Secret Service. Trump, wearing a large bandage on his ear, his party's nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee shortly afterward on July 19.

Sewell was asked to address the RNC on the final night before Trump's speech, telling the crowd that people "can't deny the power of God" in the former president's life.

"You can't deny that God protected him, you cannot deny that it was a millimeter miracle that was able to save this man's life," Sewell said. "Could it be that Jesus Christ preserved him for such a time as this?"

"Could it be that the King of Glory, the Lord God, strong and mighty, the God who is mighty in battle, protected Donald Trump, because he wants to use him for such a time as this?" Sewell added.

But just two days later, there was another shocking development in the race, when Biden announced he was ending his reelection bid and endorsed Harris as his successor.

Democrats swing into action

In the days that followed, the vice president quickly locked up support from Democratic leaders. That also gave the party a chance for a reset with Black voters.

In Michigan, the Harris campaign has hosted dozens of geared toward African-American voters in barber shops, a Detroit Black-owned concert venue, a cigar bar as well as Democratic National Convention watch parties and other events in Flint, Southfield, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Belleville, Ypsilanti, Ferndale and other cities.

There's also been a series of "Black Men Huddle Ups" hosted by the Harris campaign organized across the battleground states, including Michigan.

"We work hard for every vote, from every demographic," said Lavora Barnes, the first Black woman to chair the Michigan Democratic Party. "Our Democratic coalition is broad and wide and every member of that coalition deserves our outreach."

Evans, who had been highly critical of the Biden campaign, told the Michigan Advance in July that he believed Harris could help motivate Black voters, describing her as the "person who [can] go toe to toe with Donald Trump about the future of America."

The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 , a list of far-right policy priorities for a second Trump administration poses a host of dangers to the African- American electorate by cracking down on civil rights, voting rights and workers' rights, said Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus Chair Keith Williams. He notes that his group Harris early on when she ran for president the first time in 2019.

"I was there when nobody else was," Williams said. "I believed in her then and I believe in her now."

While Biden had few celebrities hitting the campaign trail for him, Harris proved to be a much bigger draw. A host of Black entertainment and sports stars endorsed her, including Beyoncé, Glorilla, Usher, LeBron James, Megan Thee Stallion, Magic Johnson, Chris Rock, Tyler Perry and Lizzo.

Harris even flipped some celebrities, like rapper Cardi B, who had endorsed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2020 election and said earlier this year she wouldn't vote in protest over Biden's policies in Gaza.

Wayne County Commissioner Chair Alisha Bell (D-Detroit) said that the excitement level of African Americans for Harris is stronger than it was for Biden. However, she told the Michigan Advance in October there was room to improve on outreach to African-American Michiganders.

"There has been concern about grassroots [efforts]," said Bell. "I think that there is some work to be done so that we are not complacent and take the African-American community for granted."

Before Harris spoke at a at a UAW hall in Lansing last month, the Michigan Advance spoke with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, the first Black Michigander to hold that post, about Democrats' efforts to reach younger male voters, especially men of color.

Gilchrist said that he's been encouraging young men to "participate, to step into their power and to step into their purpose because we need them to be part of this future.

"And everything that we have done policy-wise as Democrats has been about creating the conditions so they can be successful. And in this election, we need to make sure that we tell a story that includes them. And I think the Harris-Walz campaign has evolved to do that more explicitly. And I think that's gonna make a difference," he said. "And so I'm excited to be part of that. There's always more work to do and in these last 18 days, we're going to do it. We're going to win."

Democratic political consultant Greg Bowens believes that Harris has energized African-American voters in two key ways.

"First, she handled herself fearlessly during the debate by doing everything from walking right up to Trump and getting in his space to shake his hand when he tried to make a beeline for the podium to calling him out to his face about his past racist, sexist, narcissist and criminal behavior," he said.

"Second, her pictures on commercials show her as the Black every-girl-next-door and her focus on being raised by a single mom trying to make it is all relatable. This is especially true when compared to Trump growing up rich. The message is resonating," Bowens added.

However, he believes that there is a gender gap and said there is some "old-fashioned sexism." But he said there aren't enough Black men visible in her orbit.

"A bigger issue is how hard it is for Black men to see themselves in Harris and her world," Bowens said.

President Barack Obama expressed disappointment when visiting a Pittsburgh field office in October that the energy levels in Black neighborhoods were lagging compared to when he ran for president, saying it "seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.

"Part of it makes me think — and I'm speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that," said Obama, who also held a rally in Detroit last month.

The former president reminded Black men that the "women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time."

The Advance asked Gilchrist about Obama's comments that some African-American men may not want to vote for Harris based on her gender.

"You know, certainly there are men and women who have that hesitancy," Gilchrist said. "But I think there are more men and women that recognize that it's not about what America's ready for, but it's about what we're ready to do. And I know that we in Michigan are ready to vote for a woman as the next president. And I think the country is ready for that, as well."

Nonpartisan efforts to reach Black voters

Not all outreach to Black voters in Michigan has come from the Trump or Harris campaigns. A variety of nonprofit groups have been encouraging African Americans to vote and address any concerns they have this election.

On Labor Day in Detroit, dozens of women from the local Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, for whom Harris is a member from undergraduate experience at Howard University in Washington, D.C., participated in the annual union-led parade. Other Black sororities and fraternities have held voter mobilization efforts centered on increasing African-American voter turnout for the 2024 election.

The American Federation of Teachers Michigan, Black Men Vote, and Detroit Action last month held a "Brothers and Ballots" public discussion with a panel of Black men and moderated by Terrence Martin, American Federation of Teachers Michigan president. The gathering centered on encouraging African American men to cast a ballot.

The nonpartisan NAACP Detroit Branch last month announced a partnership with Ballot Power, a Michigan-based nonprofit, to launch a significant Get Out the Vote initiative aimed at increasing voter participation in Detroit's underserved communities.

The effort aligns with the nonpartisan organization's "Take Your Soles To The Polls" campaign, which is focused on voter education, mobilization, protection and registration. It will provide an "even greater opportunity to empower disenfranchised communities and ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot," according to the branch's press release.

"We want every voter in Detroit to be ready to cast their ballot, and have the tools to create a voting plan to ensure their voices are heard," said the Rev. Wendell Anthony, NAACP Detroit Branch president. "With Ballot Power, we are bringing essential voting resources directly to the Detroit communities."

A digital campaign has hit the streets, engaging Detroit voters with crucial information to help them be prepared to vote absentee, in-person during the early voting season, or on Election Day. The effort will continue through Tuesday.

The national Freedom Is At Stake GOTV Bus Tour made a stop in Detroit in October and hosted a voter registration event aimed a Black men in the city's Eastern Market area. Earlier in the day, in connection with the tour, members of the Service Employees International Union canvassed a northeast neighborhood. NextGen America helped to power the visit.

"It's critical and important that we let Black men know how critical and important voting is," said Scott Benson, an African American Detroit City Council member who attended the bus tour event. The tour's other stops have included Cleveland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Black Americans for Trump

Trump's running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), has routinely been dispatched to several smaller Michigan cities, including Traverse City, Marne and Sparta to appeal to rural voters

But Vance did hold a rally last month in Detroit's Eastern Market, which drew about 300 people, and he in Flint on Monday, the day before the election.

In Detroit, Vance was asked why Black Michiganders should vote for Trump.

"What I think they would agree with is that, No. 1, Donald Trump wants to bring back public safety and an economy that brings prosperity for everyone: good wages; good jobs. That's the Trump promise. That's a great promise for Black families in Michigan and everybody else," Vance said.

"The destruction of the manufacturing economy in the state of Michigan has been disastrous for Black Americans, and it's been disastrous for a lot of middle-class white Americans, too," Vance also said. "We can make things in this country again. We can build things in the United States of America again. And when we do, it's going to bring prosperity to Black and white alike."

Keisha Wells of New Baltimore attended the Vance event. She said she voted for Trump in 2020 and plans to vote for him again.

"I'm offended as a Black person that the Democrats think that I am stupid and illiterate. Biden and Kamala insult us," said Wells.

Martell Bivings, the GOP nominee for the 13th Congressional District, also attended the Vance rally in Detroit. A native Detroiter, Bivings is challenging U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) in a rematch. He criticized Harris for supporting the Inflation Reduction Act , the sweeping energy, health care, climate and tax package legislation. In 2022, Harris the tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate in her role as president of the body.

"She has chosen to do Americans a disservice. She has chosen to make it more difficult to live in America," Bivings said.

Sewell, the pastor who spoke at the RNC, was at the Vance rally in Detroit and encouraged Detroiters to vote for Trump.

"I believe people should vote their values," Sewell said.

But as Trump's campaign strategy appeared to be humming along, he insulted Detroit, as he's done several times before, during an October speech to a friendly audience at the Detroit Economic Club.

"I don't think anything that we're talking about today is high on her [Harris] list. I mean, the whole country's gonna be like, you wanna know the truth? It'll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's the president. She destroyed San Francisco," he said, which did not go over with the crowd.

Democrats quickly seized on his remarks and released several ads.

"Four years ago, Trump and allies tried to disenfranchise the voters of Detroit and Wayne County to overturn a free and fair election. And now he has the audacity to disrespect our city? This election, Detroit will show Trump how strong we are when we send Kamala Harris to the White House," state Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) said.

Trump returned to Michigan's largest city a couple weeks later for a rally at Huntington Place , the site where Republicans protested absentee vote counting during the 2020 election. Several Black supporters were already lined up before noon — hours before Trump's rally was set to begin at 7 p.m. — and told the Michigan Advance they were excited to vote for the former president.

"He [Trump] wants to help the hard-working people in America and keep our country strong," said Christina Kincaid of Flint.

Clarissa Woodson, who lives in Plymouth, said Trump "is an Alpha male. He's a diehard man and I love him. He's a male's male."

During his speech, Trump struck a conciliatory tone, vowing that Detroit would flourish under his second presidency.

"I am proclaiming to the people of this state that by the end of my term the entire world will be talking about the Michigan miracle and the stunning rebirth of Detroit and this will be a real rebirth under the Trump administration," Trump said. "All who have robbed you, raided you, ransacked you and abused you will discover very quickly America will not be taken advantage of anymore. We were taking advantage of, for years for ... decades. We will reclaim our stolen wealth and the days of Detroit's economic glory will return greater and stronger than ever before, promise."

The final stretch

Nine days before Election Day, the Trump campaign a marathon, six-hour rally at Madison Square Garden in his hometown of New York City that was supposed to showcase the former president's strength and popularity.

The spectacle featured a who's who of Trumpworld, with Tesla founder Elon Musk, right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, TV personality Dr. Phil, pro-wrestling's Hulk Hogan and Trump lawyer Alina Habba all snagging speaking slots before Trump came on stage.

But it was a little-known comic, Tony Hinchcliffe, who stole the show, referring to Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now." That ignited a firestorm of controversy that's dominated the last days of the campaign and caused some Latino Trump supporters to reconsider voting for him.

Hinchcliffe also Palestinians "rock-throwers," implied Jewish people are cheap and joked about a Black man in the audience eating watermelon.

There were a slew of other racist and sexist comments throughout the night, like Carlson describing Harris as a "Samoan Malaysian low IQ former California prosecutor." That led to of the event to a 1939 Nazi rally that was also held in the stadium.

Harris slammed Trump for using "dark and divisive language," and added she thinks "people are ready to turn the page," she said.

Trump, for his part, his rally, calling the atmosphere "an absolute lovefest."

"I don't think anybody has ever seen anything like what happened the other night at Madison Square Garden, the love, the love, the love in that room. It was breathtaking," he said at a news conference last week.

Days later in Detroit, Harris concluded her remarks at the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ by saying, "In these next two days, we will be tested. These days will demand everything we've got. But when I think about the days ahead and the God we serve, we were born for such a time as this. The road ahead won't be easy.

"But in times of uncertainty, we are reminded, 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning,'" she said, as parishioners applauded. "And church morning is on its way."