Kamala Harris visits Michigan for the first time as Vice President

DETROIT, Mich. — Vice President Kamala Harris visited Michigan for the first time as vice president on Monday, July 12, 2021, in part to encourage more Michiganders to get vaccinated.

During her visit to the TCF Center in Detroit, Harris led a "voting rights listening session" with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and addressed a crowd at a vaccination event with Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

“More than 4.75 million here in Michigan [have been vaccinated]," Harris, a former attorney general, Senator, and Democratic presidential candidate, said at the vaccine mobilization event. "This is incredible progress and we need to build on that progress and we need to build on that progress now. Because there are still a whole lot of folks who are not yet vaccinated.”

Michigan's vaccination rate has slowed in the last few months, with 62.4% of the state now at least partially vaccinated.

Since President Joe Biden and Harris were sworn in less than six months ago, the president, First Lady, and vice president have visited Michigan a total of five times, with the President visiting the state himself three times.

“This is a really crucial moment, and to have such support from the Biden-Harris administration, both the president and the vice president says a lot about how much Michigan matters to them and we’re always happy to welcome them,” Governor Whitmer told reporters on Monday, shortly before she met with the vice president.

Whitmer, who ran on a promise to 'Fix the Damn Roads,' said the Biden-Harris administration is showing up for the things most important to Michigan, including infrastructure.

“You know, I’m going to talk a bit about infrastructure here in Michigan," she said. "I know that they get it, but just to get some salient examples of why this really matters.”

Whitmer also got some campaign help from Harris, with the vice president scheduled to speak at a fundraising event for Whitmer's re-election campaign.

Peter Wielhouwer, associate professor of political science at Western Michigan University, said the frequent Biden administration visits are likely because of the upcoming 2022 gubernatorial and Congressional races and 2024 presidential race.

“The Democrats, again - they don’t want to take Michigan for granted," he said. "It just becomes much more difficult for the Democratic candidate for president to win the presidential election if Michigan isn’t in their column.”

Wielhouwer said Harris may be eyeing Whitmer as a potential running mate if she decides to run for the presidency again in 2028 or even in 2024.

“I think that’s a useful relationship to be looking at down the road,” he said.

Republican National Convention spokesperson Preya Samsundar responded to the vice president's visit in a statement:

Too busy trying to shore up Gretchen Whitmer’s failing re-election campaign and peddling lies about election integrity efforts, Kamala Harris is ignoring real issues like closing the southern border and re-opening the U.S.-Canadian border. With a majority of states re-opened, it’s time for the Biden-Harris administration to prioritize Michigan small businesses and the tourism industry’s recovery efforts by putting an end to this border crisis.

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