3 reasons Kamala Harris came to Detroit for Labor Day campaign stop

Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on Labor Day in Detroit, underscoring the importance of Michigan in the election as she and former President Donald Trump enter the final stretch of the campaign.

Harris' stop also put a spotlight on the city's history of hosting candidates on the federal holiday that celebrates American workers.

Michigan is a key battleground state

"We know this is going to be a very tight race to the very end," Harris told a crowd of supporters Monday during her speech at Detroit's Northwestern High School. "So let's not pay too much attention to the polls. Let's know — like labor always does — we are out here running like we are the underdog in this race because we know what we are fighting for."

The polling website 538 shows Harris polling on average just over two percentage points ahead of Trump in battleground Michigan as of Monday. But a recent Free Press poll showed Trump one percentage point ahead of Harris.

Michigan's labor history

Michigan has a long labor history with union movements in the state's homegrown autos industry often credited with setting a high middle class standard of living for manufacturing workers.

Trump's 2016 campaign reshuffled the politics of trade as he railed against international agreements he said hurt American workers by shipping their jobs overseas. After he defeated Trump in 2020, President Joe Biden has focused on industrial policies aimed at spurring a manufacturing renaissance, and labor leaders have celebrated Harris' tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate as Vice President to pass the Inflation Reduction Act which includes clean energy investments.

Trump and Republicans have characterized those and other policies as ushering in a ban on gas-powered vehicles, but Harris' campaign has pushed back, saying in a statement last week that the Vice President does not support an electric vehicle mandate.

Michigan 2024 Election: Kamala Harris vows to protect workers' rights at Detroit rally on Labor Day

Detroit draws presidential candidates on Labor Day

Harris' appearance Monday follows a tradition in Detroit. Many presidential candidates have visited the Motor City on Labor Day.

In the second half of the 20th century, such stops were common. In 1952, Adlai Stevenson spoke in Detroit on Labor Day followed by John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen .

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 3 reasons Kamala Harris came to Detroit for Labor Day campaign stop