(AFP) – Former US Vice President Kamala Harris returns to the campaign trail Tuesday alongside a leftist Michigan Senate candidate, seeking to help Democrats hold a crucial battleground seat as speculation persists over another White House run in 2028.
Harris will appear with Abdul El-Sayed at a Detroit-area roundtable on Black maternal health before joining other events aimed at mobilizing voters in a state central to Democratic hopes of winning control of the Senate in November. El-Sayed, a former public health official, faces Republican former congressman Mike Rogers for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters. A Republican victory would make an already challenging Democratic path to a Senate majority considerably steeper.
The visit also puts Harris back in the spotlight in Michigan, where Donald Trump narrowly defeated her in the 2024 presidential election and which is set to vote early in the Democratic presidential nominating calendar in 2028. Harris has said she is “thinking about” another presidential bid but has given no timeline for a decision. Her Michigan appearance kicks off a broader burst of midterm campaigning, with stops also planned in Nevada and Georgia.
Tuesday’s joint appearance has significance for El-Sayed as he seeks to unite Democrats after defeating establishment-backed Representative Haley Stevens in a bruising primary. El-Sayed drew strong support from the left but performed less strongly among Black voters, a key Democratic constituency in Detroit that Harris’s visit could help him reach.
The two Democrats have also occupied different ground over Israel. El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel and US arms sales to the country, initially backed the “Uncommitted” protest movement against then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 Democratic primary. Harris, as Biden’s vice president, faced anger from Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan over the administration’s support for Israel during the Gaza war. She is also due Tuesday to meet Detroit faith leaders and attend a voter-turnout event involving the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
© 2024 AFP
