Kamala Harris will be making her first trip to Detroit as a presidential hopeful next week, as officials with her campaign confirmed to the Michigan Chronicle that she will be joined by her husband Doug Emhoff as well as her pick for her vice president running mate.
Harris, who is widely presumed to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for the November presidential election, has not yet selected her running mate, but is expected to do so ahead of her visit to Detroit.
Officials close to Harris’ campaign did not confirm details of her visit, but said it would likely be “midweek, probably Wednesday (Aug. 6),” and that the highlight of her visit would be a campaign rally at a major venue, likely Little Caesars Arena.
Reuters reported Tuesday that the shortlist for a potential running mate included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who lives in Traverse City. Michigan Senator Gary Peters has also been confirmed as a dark-horse candidate for the vice president role.
Regardless of which running mate is selected, Harris’ popularity has swelled nationally since the July 21 announcement of President Joe Biden leaving the race and his subsequent endorsement of Harris. In the hours and days following Biden’s endorsement, support for Harris poured in by the boatload, both financially and in other ways. In the past week, her campaign has raised more than $200 million in donations.
Her trip to Michigan and other swing states next week – and over the next three months leading to the election – will help her try to overtake key battleground areas. The selection of her running mate will also be a strategic move to help her try to capture the electoral votes from the state her pick represents.
Although Harris has not been officially confirmed as the party’s pick as its nominee, that confirmation is expected to happen at the Democratic National Convention, which will be in Chicago in three weeks.
Harris’ last visit to Michigan, which happened prior to Biden’s endorsement, was on July 17 when she spoke near Kalamazoo at an aerospace museum to a crowd of about 400 people on the topic of abortion rights. Her trip to Detroit next week will have a much different energy and a different mission.
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