Michigan Democrats ‘fired up’ ahead of November presidential election, party chair says

President Joe Biden was always going to be on the ballot as the presumptive Democratic nominee for this year’s presidential election.

Despite infighting within the party and a vote “uncommitted” protest last month due to his support for Israel’s military operation in Gaza, Biden sailed through the primary process. Now it’s up to the President and Michigan Democrats to sell voters on Biden’s reelection campaign.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes told WDET there is enthusiasm toward Biden in the state.

“Folks are more enthusiastic this March,” Barnes said. “And there’s more conversations about this November election, viscerally than I remember in a long time, and that pleases me. That means that folks are getting focused on it.”

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes talks Biden’s reelection campaign

Outreach efforts to voters have been ongoing, according to Barnes.

“We never stopped knocking on doors,” stated Barnes. “We built this state party to be a grassroots organizing operation. We’ve got folks in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) who put on their snow boots and hit those doors because we know how important it is to have those conversations with voters.”

Biden won Michigan by just 154,188 votes in 2020. The campaign for Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in February’s primary drew over 100,000 votes.

Barnes is confident that voters will choose Biden over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump when they head to the polls in November.

“Allowing Donald Trump to return to the White House where he will attempt to deport people, where he will continue to call people ‘poison,’ where he will continue to disparage people of color over and over again, is not acceptable for Americans or for Michigan,” Barnes said.

“When you think about bringing the manufacturing jobs back here to Michigan, bringing good union jobs back here to Michigan, lowering the cost of medicines like insulin — where some of our seniors are now only paying $35 for insulin that was about to bankrupt them beforehand,” Barnes stated on why voters should reelect Biden. “We have a great story to tell about what Biden-Harris have done for Michiganders and for America.”