GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It was the picture of fall in the town of Gerry Ford on Friday.
And in Grand Rapids' Riverside Park, politics was front and center.
"We're not going back," the crowd chanted as they welcomed Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to the city.
With less than 3 weeks to go to Election Day, Harris's supporters gathered to hear her pitch as she prepared to speak to voters in communities across the state throughout the day.
"We are here because we know it is time to turn the page," Harris said. "It is time to turn the page because America is ready to chart a new way forward. America is ready for a new and optimistic generation of leadership that is all of us."
It was Harris's first visit to the area since becoming her party's nominee, not having headlined an event in West Michigan since her visit to Portage's Air Zoo in July.
Since then, Harris has sought to forge her own path and national identity in the shadow of President Joe Biden's exit from the race just days after that Portage visit.
"Our plan, in terms of an opportunity economy, will lower costs on everything from health care to groceries," Harris said Friday. "I'll take on corporate price gouging because I've done it before, and I will do it again."
Harris once again looking to paint a contrast between herself and the Republican former president on issues including one of the state's top industries - manufacturing.
"Contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive," Harris said, in reference to Republican messaging that she and other Democrats like Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin have sought to put electric vehicle mandates into place to phase out fuel-powered vehicles. "But here is what I will do: I will invest in manufacturing communities like Kent County."
"Together, we will retool existing factories, hire locally and work with unions to create good paying jobs - including jobs that do not require a college degree," she continued. "Because - here's where I come from - I know a college degree is not the only measure of the skills and experience of a qualified worker. And I intend to reexamine federal jobs when you all elect me President, to assess those jobs that should not have that requirement, and then I intend to challenge the private sector to do the same."
The GOP ticket has visited West Michigan multiple times, including rallies with Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, in Byron Center, Big Rapids, Sparta and at the Berlin Raceway in Marne.
Additionally, just last month, former President Trump rallied supporters at a panel manufacturer in Walker.
And just as Harris traveled cross-state Friday, Trump touched down in Detroit to hold a roundtable and rally surrounding manufacturing.
"Standing before you tonight, I am proclaiming to the people of this state that, by the end of my term, the entire world will be talking about the Michigan miracle and the stunning rebirth of Detroit," Trump told his crowd. "And this will be a real rebirth."
After weeks of following her entrance at the top of the ticket, many recent polls have had Harris and her opponent statistically tied in the state.
In defiance of the seemingly closing gap between herself and Trump in this key battleground, Harris made the case that she will be the candidate to lead the country forward.
"We've got to energize and organize and mobilize and remind our neighbors and our friends that their vote is their voice - and your voice is your power," Harris said. "In a democracy - while we can hold on to it - our vote is the power that each of us as an individual has. It's an extraordinary power, and we will not give it away, and we will not let anyone suppress or silence our power. Don't ever let anybody take your power from you."