A pair of ceiling fans spun lazily inside the jam-packed hangar as the sun blazed down on thousands of supporters outside. As the crowd of 15,000 鈥� the largest of the 2024 Democratic presidential campaign 鈥� waited for Vice President Kamala Harris, some began to faint.
That didn鈥檛 stop the supporters from bursting into waves of deafening cheers that lasted two minutes as Harris took the stage. It was what her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, called a 鈥渨arm Midwestern welcome.鈥�
鈥淥K, come on, we鈥檝e got business to handle,鈥� she finally said.
The rally outside Detroit on Wednesday afternoon marked the third stop on a five-day, cross-country tour to woo voters in battleground states, which began in Pennsylvania when introduced Walz as her vice presidential pick. The duo went on to hold events in North Carolina and Georgia before rallies Friday in Arizona and Saturday in Nevada, and they plan to close out the week in California with a on Sunday.
The Harris campaign has jolted the Democratic base in the three weeks since President Joe Biden dropped out and endorsed her, bringing in and drawing massive audiences.
Although California has sent three Republicans to the White House, it has never produced a Democratic president. Several tried 鈥� including former Gov. Jerry Brown, whom critics nicknamed 鈥淕overnor Moonbeam,鈥� and Harris herself in 2019. Some political strategists blame the sorry track record .
Can Harris finally break through in 2024?
To reach the White House, she may need to , and must aggressively defend her California record against intense attacks from former President Donald Trump鈥檚 campaign. released Thursday, Harris leaned heavily into her Oakland upbringing and her California prosecutor career. She also agreed to the first debate with Trump, on Sept. 10.
Harris鈥� California roots are already under attack. Labeling her as a 鈥淐alifornia radical鈥� and 鈥�,鈥� Republicans have hammered her stances, particularly on crime and immigration. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the GOP nominee for vice president, is trailing Harris鈥� travels this week and holding press events to criticize her. Trump on Thursday: 鈥淪he destroyed the state of California along with Gov. Gavin Newscum,鈥� he said, using his pejorative for Newsom.
Harris has from some of her more liberal campaign promises from 2019 and no longer supports a fracking ban or a single-payer health care system. But she must also navigate , who want her to go further than Biden on abortion and climate policies.
Her California ties have given some undecided voters pause, but those connections are likely not the deciding factor, according to 20 voters, consultants, officials and political experts interviewed by CalMatters in some of Michigan and Arizona鈥檚 most purple districts. And some voters and experts argued that Walz鈥� Midwestern roots could help balance the ticket.
鈥淧eople will understand through the Walz lens that Kamala, it doesn鈥檛 matter where she鈥檚 from geographically,鈥� said Democrat Carl Marlinga, who is running for Congress in Michigan鈥檚 competitive Macomb County. 鈥淢aybe she says things a little differently, but she wouldn鈥檛 have picked a guy like us if she didn鈥檛 want to connect with people like us.鈥�
Growing up Republican in Michigan, Michael Taylor knows well a common Midwestern conservative sentiment toward California: His mother often told him the state is a 鈥渉ellscape鈥� detached from the rest of America, with rampant crime, illegal migrants and unfettered homelessness 鈥� even though he said he disagrees.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of 鈥� media portrayal that the West Coast liberals are just out of touch and don鈥檛 really know what鈥檚 going on in the heartland,鈥� said Taylor, mayor of Sterling Heights since 2014.
His blue-collar city of 132,000 is home to . Thursday, Harris spoke at a Detroit rally hosted by the United Auto Workers, which , citing her 鈥減roven track record of delivering for the working class.鈥�
Sterling Heights is in Macomb County, the quintessential swing county where disillusioned Democrats ditched their party for Republican President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The county went for Democrat Barack Obama twice before favoring Trump in 2016 and 2020. Taylor, who now identifies with neither major party, supported Trump in 2016 but voted for .
California is perceived as elitist and progressive and seems distant to a lot of Macomb County voters, sometimes even himself, Taylor said.
鈥淚 sense that from talking to Republicans. There鈥檚 this conflict between the real America and the America of the little blue islands along the coasts,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you talk to some people, they almost act like California is a different country.鈥�
That鈥檚 true for Republican Cheryl Costantino, a teacher in Macomb County鈥檚 Shelby Township: 鈥淭o us, California is like its own weird, liberal place where people poop on the sidewalks and live in tents.鈥�
McClellan Grote, a registered independent and nuclear engineer from Gilbert, Arizona, hesitates to vote for Harris. Although he supported Trump twice and still favors his policies, Grote said he must vote against Trump鈥檚 vitriol. But he鈥檚 reluctant to support Harris, partly due to the liberal image of California and Newsom, who Grote also calls 鈥淣ewscum.鈥�
That perception represents a 鈥渒ey vulnerability鈥� that Harris must overcome to win moderate voters, said Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at Michigan State University. Historically, Black and female candidates are considered more liberal than white men, he said, and Harris鈥� history representing a largely Democratic state, particularly in the U.S. Senate, may cement that impression.
Republicans are hoping to cash in on that exact sentiment. In a National Republican Senatorial Committee memo, executive director Jason Thielman deemed Harris a 鈥�.
While it鈥檚 too soon to tell if those attacks have dented her support, Grossmann noted that down-ballot Democrats in swing states in previous elections when tied to . 鈥淭hat gives (us) a reason to expect that the same attacks would be successful against Harris,鈥� he said.
The person who may help counter those critiques is Walz, whom Democrats are counting on to help connect with Midwesterners with his rural roots and his background as a gun owner, hunter, public school teacher and veteran. The Trump campaign, on other hand, in an emailed statement as a 鈥淲est Coast wannabe鈥� who wants to spread 鈥淐alifornia鈥檚 dangerously liberal agenda.鈥�
Walz is 鈥渁 perfect description of a Democrat who could win in Macomb County,鈥� said Marlinga, a self-described moderate Democrat who lost by a razor-thin margin to Republican U.S. Rep. John James in 2022 and is set for a rematch this November.
Marlinga called the Minnesota governor a 鈥減ositive populist鈥� who is easy-going and approachable. Walz called Trump and Vance 鈥渨eird,鈥� just like an 鈥渙rdinary guy 鈥� sitting down for dinner at a deli somewhere鈥� would, Marlinga said.
鈥淲e like conservation, we like sports, we like fishing, we like hunting,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not like the Democrats in New York and California, because we鈥檙e not here to grab your guns and to change your life and to preach to you about things.鈥�
In the Republican attacks on Harris, her record on crime is coming under intense scrutiny, as she leans into her prosecutor background in contrast with Trump 鈥� a who was found in a separate civil case to have sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll.
鈥淪he prosecuted sex predators. He is one,鈥� an ad for Harris鈥� 2020 presidential campaign said.
Republicans are portraying Harris as a soft-on-crime prosecutor from California, especially as San Francisco is 鈥� so much so that even its Democratic mayor, London Breed, is backing a statewide to enhance penalties on petty crimes.
The Trump campaign is trying to associate Harris with previous California ballot measures that and . Voters approved those measures during her tenure as the state attorney general, even though she remained neutral on them, and her record on crime is .
The attack resonates with some Michigan Republicans, including Robert Wojtowicz, who is running for a in Macomb County.
While courting voters at a Clinton Township polling station on Tuesday, Wojtowicz associated Harris with California鈥檚 recent increases in some, even though she left to serve in the U.S. Senate in 2017. He argued the state鈥檚 prosecutors 鈥渁re not prosecuting 鈥� serious crimes,鈥� echoing California conservatives who are advocating for tougher penalties.
Costantino, the Shelby Township teacher, noted that during Harris鈥� early years as district attorney. The city鈥檚 current struggle with crime is something Harris still should own, Costantino said.
鈥淭he fact that she鈥檚 from California should make her more sensitive to those issues, not less sensitive,鈥� Costantino said. 鈥淛ust because she goes to Washington doesn鈥檛 mean that she should be removed from them.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e not like the Democrats in New York and California, because we鈥檙e not here to grab your guns and to change your life and to preach to you about things.鈥�DEMOCRAT CARL MARLINGA, WHO IS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN MICHIGAN鈥橲 COMPETITIVE MACOMB COUNTY
But most of the Michigan and Arizona voters interviewed by CalMatters spoke more about policies from her time as vice president, not while she served in California. While conservative voters blamed the Biden-Harris administration for increases in gas prices, illegal border crossings and national debt, Democrats celebrated her for advocating for abortion rights 鈥� that turned out a historic number of Michigan voters in recent elections and .
And some Michigan voters 鈥� both Republicans and Democrats 鈥� said they did not know Harris for her time in the Golden State.
Joe Koch is a 58-year-old electric operator and a self-described 鈥淐hristian conservative鈥� in , where Biden won by less than 1 percentage point in 2020 after Trump won it by 4 points in 2016. He called California a 鈥渕ismanaged鈥� state, blaming Newsom for the state鈥檚 . 鈥淗e鈥檚 just a populist guy, good hair, but I don鈥檛 see him governing,鈥� Koch said.
But Harris鈥� California roots are 鈥渟econdary鈥� compared to her policy stances, Koch said. 鈥淪he could be from New Mexico or Washington,鈥� he said.
Heather Quarters, a 48-year-old Republican from Scottsdale, Ariz., also thinks California is too liberal. But she has made up her mind to vote for Trump, she said, and Harris鈥� California-ness isn鈥檛 鈥渞eally what colors my reason for not voting for her.鈥�
And Tamela Washington, a 55-year-old Michigan Democrat, said she only began to notice Harris when she was in the U.S. Senate.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter whether she鈥檚 from California, Hawaii, Timbuktu. Doesn鈥檛 matter. It just blinds us from 鈥� what connects us and what keeps us wanting to make this country just better every day,鈥� Washington said.
Among Michigan鈥檚 Arab community, Harris鈥� California roots fade even further into the background.
Boasting the , Michigan is home to Dearborn, the city in America. Democratic voters here, partly angered by Biden鈥檚 support for Israel in the Gaza war, in the March primary.
During Wednesday鈥檚 rally, a from the University of Michigan briefly interrupted before security escorted them out. They chanted: 鈥淜amala Kamala you can鈥檛 hide, we won鈥檛 vote for genocide!鈥�
鈥淚t seems that the number one driving factor in this race will be the Gaza issue. People are not looking at much else,鈥� said Qarim Abdullah, an imam at the American Muslim Center in Dearborn since 2018. A sense of 鈥渂etrayal鈥� by Biden鈥檚 Gaza policies, he said, has driven some to vote for Trump.
Although Harris appeared to shift her tone from Biden鈥檚 when she called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and , her approach largely aligns with the administration.
And in Arizona 鈥� a battleground Sun Belt state bordering Mexico 鈥� some voters say illegal immigration is a top concern. The state鈥檚 GOP-led Legislature that would allow state and local law enforcement to crack down on illegal border crossings, even though courts deem it a federal power.
Quarters, the Scottsdale Republican, hammered Biden for spikes in illegal border crossings. But, she said, she doesn鈥檛 blame it on Harris: 鈥淚 think Biden鈥檚 the boss.鈥�
Daughter of immigrants, as the San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general. She slammed Trump for targeting undocumented immigrants, advocated for protections for migrant children and supported more oversight on border detention centers while in the U.S. Senate.
The Biden administration restricted asylum seekers at the border and , upsetting immigration advocates and some Democrats. This year, Biden backed a bipartisan immigration package that would have stepped up border security and given the president more power to 鈥� a package blocked by Republicans in Congress at Trump鈥檚 order.
鈥淒onald Trump tanked the deal,鈥� Harris said today at her rally in Glendale, drawing boos from the crowd. 鈥淏ut when I鈥檓 the president, I will sign the bill.鈥�
Democrat Katee Morrison, a Mesa resident who attended the rally, said although she was worried about further restrictions on undocumented immigrants, she said Harris鈥� apparent shifting stance represents a willingness to compromise.
鈥淚 think anything we can find common ground on is nice. Some things you have to be a little bit moderate on,鈥� Morrison said.
Harris 鈥� portrayed by Republicans as a liberal 鈥渂order czar鈥� lenient on illegal migrants 鈥� has gone on the offense. In a , she taps into her record cracking down on gangs while attorney general and pledges to hire thousands more Border Patrol agents. She has also secured endorsements from several 鈥� including Bisbee, Nogales, Somerton, and San Luis, plus two Yuma County supervisors.
On other issues, Harris鈥� California brand could prove to be an advantage, . At the Arizona rally, Harris promised to sign legislation to protect reproductive rights. 鈥淲e trust women,鈥� she said, drawing thunderous cheers.
Arizona Democrats hope 鈥� 鈥� appeals to independent voters and disenfranchised Republicans.
鈥淪he鈥檚 always been an advocate for women鈥檚 health care, and she鈥檚 a woman. She gets us,鈥� Patti O鈥橬eil, chairperson of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, said of Harris.
Harris鈥� support for abortion rights won over Karla Grote, a developer in Gilbert and a former Republican who re-registered as independent after becoming disillusioned with Trump.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 hate her policies. I don鈥檛 hate her thought patterns. Well, she鈥檚 pro-choice! That鈥檚 a big one for me,鈥� Karla Grote shouted while talking to her husband at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, waiting for a delayed flight back home to Arizona.
鈥淎nybody miss that?鈥� McClellan asked while rolling his eyes, drawing a few chuckles from passengers nearby.
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