DETROIT — In one sentence, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) summed up the importance of Michigan to both presidential campaigns: "I’m traveling around the country, but I keep coming back to Detroit."

What You Need To Know

  • Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) made multiple campaign stops in Michigan on Sunday

  • The Democratic presidential candidate urged Michiganders to vote as she and former Vice President Biden attempt to flip the state back blue

  • Trump won the state by less than 11,000 votes in the 2016 presidential election

  • COVID-19 cases are surging across the Midwest, including in Michigan, which saw 3,338 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, Oct. 24

On Sunday, the Democratic candidate for Vice President made multiple stops around the Wolverine State, where she urged Michiganders to vote – reminding them of the thin margin by which President Donald Trump won the state in 2016 while striking an optimistic tone.

"We all have PTSD from 2016," Harris said, "but there are lessons from 2016, and one of them is that in 2016, in Michigan, we missed that election by, on average, two votes per precinct. Think about that. Like, this is doable!"

"You all are very likely going to make the decision about who is the next president of the United States," she said.

Harris' visit comes as nearly 2 million mail-in ballots have already been submitted in Michigan, showing a 65% return rate of the over 3 million ballots requested, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

"You are all going to make this happen," Harris said to a cheering crowd in Troy, Michigan. 

Michigan's total of early votes already cast accounts for 40.7% of their 2016 total – and with the 2016 race decided by less than 11,000 votes in the state, both campaigns recognize that every vote matters.

"The bottom line is we're focusing on every state and we are working to earn the vote of every American regardless of where they live," Harris said, when asked by a reporter if she saw states like Georgia and Texas as winnable. Harris campaigned in Georgia last week, and will travel to Texas on Friday as the campaign winds down to the finish line.

"Michigan is going to decide the next president of the United States,” the state's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said at a Harris campaign stop in Detroit, where she introduced the California Senator.

In Southfield, Michigan, Harris stopped at a church, where she referenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s urging to make the world a "brotherhood.

"We still have a lot of work to do, to build that brotherhood and sisterhood, to build that beloved community," she said. "And we will get there, so long as we keep working and fighting for the ideals we hold dear, born out of our faith."

Most churchgoers watched the Vice Presidential candidate's speech on a screen from their cars. 

Sen. Harris also made an unnanounced stop on Detroit's west side where she listed the reasons why the city's residents should vote, including to "honor" their ancestors, who she said "sacrificed lives for our right to vote.” 

"They know when we vote, things change," Harris said. "They know when we vote, we win. So let’s not let anybody take our power from us, ever.”

"Show the country and show the world that Detroit made the difference in this election," she added.

Harris also slammed the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic – COVID-19 cases are surging across the Midwest, including in Michigan, which saw 3,338 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, Oct. 24.

“This administration failed to take personal responsibility in terms of leading the nation through this deadly mass casualty event,” Harris said. “That’s why they have forfeited their right to a second term in office.”

Recent polling averages from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics show Biden leading Trump in Michigan.