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Former
President
Obama
rallies
Michigan
Democrats
in
Detroit
as early
voting
begins
Jean
Davis,
Local/State/Politics
Tell Us
Detroit
News
Bureau
DETROIT
— Former
President
Barack
Obama
returned
to
Detroit
on
Saturday
to rally
support
for
Michigan
Democrats,
joining
a
campaign
push for
gubernatorial
nominee
Jocelyn
Benson
and U.S.
Senate
nominee
Abdul
El-Sayed
as
statewide
early
voting
began.
The
appearance
at Cass
Technical
High
School
came 10
days
before
the Nov.
3
election,
with
Democrats
seeking
to
energize
supporters
in a
traditionally
Democratic
stronghold.
Thousands
of
people
appeared
to be
waiting
outside
the
school
during
the
afternoon,
according
to The
Detroit
News,
while
attendees
filled
the gym
ahead of
the
evening
program.
Crowds
erupted
when
Obama
greeted
Detroit
during
the
campaign
stop,
according
to Fox 2
Detroit.
The
former
president
also
briefly
addressed
a
crowded
overflow
room
inside
the
school,
The
Detroit
News
reported.
The
rally
brought
Obama
into two
closely
watched
statewide
contests.
Benson,
Michigan’s
secretary
of
state,
is
running
for
governor
against
Republican
John
James.
El-Sayed,
a former
public
health
official,
faces
Republican
former
U.S.
Rep.
Mike
Rogers
for an
open
Senate
seat.
Obama’s
visit
was part
of a
weekend
of
high-profile
campaigning
in
Michigan.
President
Donald
Trump
was
scheduled
to
appear
Sunday
in Port
Huron to
support
Rogers
and
James,
giving
both
parties
prominent
national
figures
to help
mobilize
voters
in the
election’s
closing
days.
The
timing
of the
Detroit
rally
underscored
the
parties’
focus on
getting
supporters
to vote
as
Michigan’s
statewide
in-person
early
voting
period
opened
Saturday.
“Whenever
you
bring in
these
big
names,
what
you’re
trying
to do is
excite
your
base,
and
you’re
trying
to whip
them up
and get
them
excited
to turn
out and
vote for
you,”
Oakland
University
professor
Peter
Trumbore
told CBS
Detroit
ahead of
the
visit.
Outside
Cass
Tech,
Michigan
Democratic
Party
Chairman
Curtis
Hertel
Jr. said
Obama’s
appearance
offered
a
contrast
with
Trump’s
leadership.
Democratic
attorney
general
nominee
Eli
Savit,
the
Washtenaw
County
prosecutor,
described
the
former
president’s
visit as
an
opportunity
to
energize
voters
after a
divisive
campaign
season.
“The
fact
that
he’s
coming
here to
Michigan
at the
end of
what’s
been a
really
divisive
political
season
is
meaningful
and
energizing,”
Savit
told The
Detroit
News.
Republicans
countered
that
Democrats
were
relying
on Obama
to
bolster
support
in
Detroit.
Republican
National
Committee
spokesman
Hunter
Lovell
said
Rogers
was
working
to build
a
coalition
of
Republicans,
independents
and
Democrats
to
defeat
El-Sayed.
Michigan
voters
will
choose a
governor,
U.S.
senator,
attorney
general
and
secretary
of state
in the
Nov. 3
election,
along
with
candidates
for
every
seat in
the
state
Legislature.
This
Tell Us
USA News
Network
report
is
produced
in part
by Ai
and can
make
mistakes.
Please
contact
and let
us know
of any
errors
you may
find.
info@tellususa.com
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