Lizzo joins Harris to get out the vote on Detroit’s first day of early voting

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris encouraged her supporters to hit the polls on the first day of early voting in Detroit at a campaign speech at Western International High School Saturday.

Detroit began early voting Oct. 19, while most other Michigan cities start early voting on Oct. 26. Nov. 3 is the last day Michigan voters can vote early in person ahead of the Nov. 5 general election in which Harris faces Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.

Harris gave her typical campaign pitch to the crowd in a roughly 10-minute speech focused on getting voters to the polls in the last 17 days ahead of Election Day.

“Who is the capital of breaking records?” Harris joked, mentioning North Carolina’s record early voting turnout this week. “We’re going to break some records here in Detroit.”

And the effort started right away.

Local officials, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield and council members Latisha Johnson and Gabriela Santiago-Romero led a group of early voters across the street to the early voting site at Clark Park.

“Now to be able to have an extra 16 days and have the same experience you would on Election Day — whatever’s most convenient, I think it’ll work out well,” Duggan said in an interview with reporters.

Sisters Edna Bugh and Flethea Williams came to their first-ever political rally to see Harris Saturday and walked to Clark Park with the group to cast their votes early.

“She’s for our freedom and for us to be able to say what we want to say with our bodies as women,” Williams said.

Detroit-born singer Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, took selfies with fans after announcing she had voted early for the Democratic nominee.

“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every single last vote here counts,” Jefferson said.

Harris is expected back in Michigan Monday, and Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign for her in Detroit on Tuesday.

Both presidential candidates are working to lock in support in a pivotal swing state that will help decide the election. Harris, who was in Detroit on Tuesday, returned for events in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County on Friday. Trump, who spoke to the Detroit Economic Club last Thursday, held an event in Oakland County and a rally at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit on Friday night as well.

Some Harris supporters came to the event feeling more nervous than excited. Santiago-Romero, who represents majority-Hispanic Southwest Detroit on city council, told the Free Press she’s unsure Harris’ momentum was anything more than internet memes.

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“There was no real momentum, it was excitement that came through social media, that came through messaging, but at the end of the day, memes don’t get you votes,” she said.

She’s noticed about four Trump signs in her neighborhood, but Santiago-Romero says, “In Southwest, people won’t show you with their signs, they’re going to show you with their votes.”

Harris is also expected to hold get-out-the-vote events in Georgia with former President Barack Obama on Oct. 24 and with Michelle Obama in Michigan on Oct. 26. While both campaigns have made pitches to Black men, Santiago-Romero said that she feels like the Harris campaign could do more to reach Spanish-speaking voters.

“I feel left out,” said Sergio Martinez, of the immigrant rights nonprofit Michigan United, in an interview after Harris’ remarks. “For her to choose Western International High School for this speech and not address our immediate needs… The effect of her saying so can make waves.”

Martinez, an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the country since he was five, isn’t able to vote, but says he came Saturday wearing a Kamala shirt to remind voters of the threat he faces should former president Donald Trump return to the White House.

“Trump wants to deport me,” Martinez said. “You are in Southwest Detroit, Madam Vice President — say something.”

Samuel J. Robinson is a freelance contributor to the Free Press. Reach him on X: @samueljrob.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lizzo, Harris urge Detroiters to vote early