Walz caps Harris' Michigan campaign with a rally in Detroit

In a hoarse voice, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz delivered a final message focused on reproductive rights to Michigan voters at a rally in downtown Detroit late Monday night as the campaign came to a close.

In 2022, about 57% of Michigan voters approved a ballot measure that added an explicit right to abortion to the state constitution following the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade had tipped.

Echoing a similar message he delivered in Michigan on Friday, Walz again urged the men in the crowd to think about the women in their lives. “Your life is at stake in this election,” said Walz, who signed an abortion rights law as Minnesota governor. He spoke about how Trump's appointment of conservative judges paved the way for abortion bans in states across the country. But in the first presidential election after the U.S. Supreme Court stripped women of the national right to abortion they had enjoyed for nearly half a century, Walz said women in this election would deliver a message to Trump. “Whether he likes it or not,” Walz said, alluding to Trump’s promise to protect women, “whether they don’t like it.”

“We’re in the fourth quarter. Two more minutes. The game is a draw. But we have the damn ball. And we have the best quarterback on the field in Kamala Harris,” Walz said in a short speech given shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday night. “Michigan, bring this thing home to America.”

Walz's wife, Gwen Walz, spoke directly before him, drawing on her teaching experience to cheer voters on and describing the election as a high-stakes group project. “And you know what? It’s due tomorrow and it’s pass or fail.”

Former Republican President Donald Trump was scheduled to appear in Michigan on Monday evening at a rally in Grand Rapids, where he also ended his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

In Hart Plaza, where Walz-Spoke trees were lit in blue and red and iconic buildings in downtown Detroit glowed on a drizzly night, the vice presidential candidate looked out at his supporters on the banks of the Detroit River. Just a short walk from the Harris supporters' rally site, poll workers in Detroit have spent the last few days processing and tallying mail-in ballots cast by the city's voters. As of Monday morning, about 33% of Detroit voters had already voted early or by mail. Nationwide, about 44% of voters had already cast their ballot. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a statement Monday evening that Michigan appears to be on track for another high-turnout election. The state saw its highest voter turnout in 60 years in 2020.

Several Michigan politicians took the stage before Walz spoke, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Lt. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has crisscrossed Michigan to campaign for the Democrats, made a final pitch to Harris supporters late Monday night.

“This is it, guys. The whole world is counting on us,” Whitmer said. “Michigan, we deserve leaders who know and see us. Kamala Harris is that leader.”

The election night waltz rally in Michigan's largest city featured several musicians taking the stage, including the Detroit Youth Choir and a joint performance with Jon Bon Jovi, The War and Treaty and REM's Michael Stipe. “I have one simple question: Who can we rely on to unite us when we are most divided?” asked Bon Jovi. “Kamala,” the crowd responded. After Walz, the musicians returned to the stage and performed an acoustic rendition of “Livin' on a Prayer.”

During the rally, a DJ played Motown and pop hits, which had the crowd and some security guards singing and dancing along. In a presidential cycle marked at times by dark and apocalyptic rhetoric, Harris supporters appeared determined to throw a party before the final day of voting on Election Day Tuesday. They danced to “The Wobble” during a musical break while they waited to hear from Walz.

Amanda Marsh, 35, of Washington, D.C., came to Michigan to canvass before the election and to visit her family from Grosse Pointe. She said she decided to postpone her flight home so she could attend the rolling rally. Amid the cheerful atmosphere, she noticed an underlying nervousness about the upcoming election. “I think Democrats are inherently worried after everything that happened with Hillary,” she said, referring to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016.

Trump's campaign team sharply criticized the Walz rally on Monday morning. “Free concerts and flashy performances will not change the fact that Michigan residents are suffering under the weight of Kamalanomics and the failed policies of the Harris-Biden administration. Hardworking Michigan residents are ready to vote for President Trump to put more money in their pockets. “Secure our border and make life affordable again,” said Victoria LaCivita, communications director for Team Trump Michigan, in a statement Monday morning .

Eight years ago, Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by 10,704 votes, or 0.3 percentage points – the narrowest margin of any state – delivering Michigan the Republican presidential nomination for the first time since 1988. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump by over 154,000 votes, or 2.78 percentage points. Michigan is once again a crucial battleground state in this year's election.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

Want to learn more about this year's elections in Michigan? Check out our voter guide, subscribe to our election newsletter and share your thoughts in a letter to the editor at any time.

This story has been updated to add a contribution from X.

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