GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — With less than one month to go until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to touch down in West Michigan as both major campaigns have honed in on this key battleground region in recent weeks.
The Harris campaign confirmed to 13 ON YOUR SIDE Sunday morning the vice president would be campaigning in Grand Rapids on Friday.
It is set to be Harris' first visit to West Michigan since becoming the presidential candidate, following her last visit in July to the Air Zoo in Portage centered around reproductive options.
It comes as the GOP ticket has similarly sought to tap into the potential of this key swing region.
Since officially becoming their party's top nominees, Republican vice presidential and presidential picks—Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and former President Donald Trump—have made multiple visits to the area.
On the heels of their party's national convention in Milwaukee in July, their first joint rally was held at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
Since then, Vance has held rallies in Byron Center, Big Rapids, Sparta and at the Berlin Raceway in Marne.
Additionally, just last month, Trump rallied supporters at a panel manufacturer in Walker.
The attention on this region has been met with little surprise from some, given its unique makeup that some have likened to a microcosm of the overall national electorate.
"I would put the electorate in the state of Michigan into three pots," Calvin University professor Doug Koopman told 13 ON YOUR SIDE in August. "[One is] sort of loyal Trump voters, mostly in rural areas and small towns, outside of Detroit metro, outside of Grand Rapids metro."
"Another set of the electorate is really in the cities—Detroit area, Flint, part of Grand Rapids, Muskegon, etc., which is really a base constituency for the Harris campaign," he said.
The third, Koopman believed, are what he called a "cross-pressured" group.
"Maybe they used to be moderate Republicans or more moderate Democrats," Koopman said. "A lot of those folks are in Grand Rapids, and in the Grand Rapids area. They're more moderate for a few reasons. They're old-time Gerry Ford Republicans, or they used to be pro-life Democrats. And so, there's a lot of independent voters as well who would be close by [to Grand Rapids]."
As of Sunday morning, no additional details on Harris' expected visit were available.
13 ON YOUR SIDE will be updating both on-air and online as more information on the visit is disseminated.
