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What the Democratic debate candidates have said about Michigan

Here is what all of the 20 candidates who are participating in the debates have said about Michigan during their campaigns.
Credit: AP
Members of the media gather for a walk-through of the stage set-up for the first democratic debate, Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

The Democratic Presidential Debates are going to be in Detroit on July 30-31. Michigan is an interesting place for the primary debates to be, partly because so many of the 25 candidates have already campaigned here. 

Additionally, Michigan has developed into a swing state in recent years, which has brought most of the candidates here already. In 2016, Michigan voted for Donald Trump—the first time a Republican won the state since 1998. 

But in 2018, it flipped again. Michigan elected a Democratic governor, attorney general and Secretary of State. 

In the wake of both of those elections, Michigan is now considered a "purple state," and it has been said in some form or another: the road to the White House runs through Michigan. 

Here is what all of the 20 candidates who are participating in the debates have said about Michigan during their campaigns: 

BATTLEGROUND STATE

Most of the candidates recognize that Michigan will be a state to fight for, especially since Trump won it with 10,704 votes over Hilary Clinton. 

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Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, speaks at a campaign stop, Saturday, July 13, 2019, in Londonderry, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Joe Biden

Who: Former Vice President to Barack Obama, former Delaware Senator

Polling: 29.3%

Quote: "Michigan, and Detroit in particular, will be crucial to defeating Donald Trump and restoring the soul of our nation, and I look forward to meeting firsthand with voters over the coming months to make the case."

Credit: Ethan Miller
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a rally for Nevada Democratic candidates at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts on October 25, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Bernie Sanders

Who: Vermont Senator

Polling: 15.0%

Quote: "“When [Trump] was running for president, the very biggest lie that he told here in Michigan, Wisconsin, and all over this country, was that he was going to stand with the working class of our country, that he was on their side, and that he would take on powerful special interests to take on working families.”

Credit: AP
Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority South Central Regional Conference in New Orleans, Friday, April 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Kamala Harris

Who: Current California senator, former California Attorney General

Polling: 11.8%

Quote: “Who can speak to the Midwest,” she said. “Too often, the definition of the Midwest leaves people out. It leaves people in this room who helped build cities like Detroit. It leaves out working women who are on their feet all day.”

Credit: AP
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke addresses the South Carolina Democratic Party convention, Saturday, June 22, 2019 in Columbia, S.C.. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Beto O'Rourke

Who: Former Texas Congressman

Polling: 2.7%

Quote: “Michigan is important, so here we start the fifth day of our campaign our second event today in Michigan I wanted to be here in this state as early as I possibly could."

Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP
FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2109 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Amy Klobuchar

Who: Minnesota Senator

Polling: 1.3%

Quote: "There is a reason the debates are here. This is a very important state. We don't want to lose Michigan again," she said. "Michigan came roaring back in 2018 and it's going to happen again in the general election."

Credit: AP
August 16, 2018 Montana Governor Steve Bullock in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Steve Bullock

Who: Montana Governor

Polling: 0.7%

Quote: “And I think I could also win in Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and make Florida competitive in places we lost,” he said. “There are large parts of the country I think that I could win and in that respect I think I offer a lot.”

Credit: AP
FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2018 file photo, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks during the panel Economic Development at the National Governor Association winter meeting in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

John Hickenlooper

Who: Former Colorado Governor

Polling: 0.5%

Quote: “We've achieved these big progressive goals, but we didn't need to go to massive government expansions, which I don't think we're going to sell in Ohio and Michigan and North Carolina."

Credit: AP Photo/Nati Harnik
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, speaks at the Heartland Forum on the campus of Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, Saturday, March 30, 2019.

Tim Ryan

Who: Ohio Congressman

Polling: 0.3%

Quote: “I could win Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin; rebuild the blue wall; and take out Trump.”

Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File
In this Oct. 24, 2018, file photo, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo., greets voters during a rally with young voters on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Bennet says he is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. The three-term senator made the announcement Thursday on “CBS This Morning.”

Michael Bennet

Who: Colorado Senator

Polling: 0.3%

Quote: “Democrats gained seven governorships in 2018, including winning in key states like Michigan and Wisconsin. We should be building on those gains with an agenda that has broad support — not policies like Medicare for All that make private insurance illegal.”

POLICIES FOR MICHIGAN

Some of the candidates have already presented specific policy ideas and plans that they would want to implement with the people of Michigan in mind. 

Credit: AP
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at Focus: HOPE in Detroit, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Elizabeth Warren

Who: Massachusetts Senator

Polling: 14.5%

Quote: “Under a Warren Administration, the focus will be on defending and creating American jobs right here in Michigan and all across the country.”

Credit: AP
Democratic presidential candidate entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks during the Democratic primary debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Andrew Yang

Who: Entrepreneur, founder of Venture for America

Polling: 2.0%

Quote: “The reason why Donald Trump is our president today is that we automated away four million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, all the swing States he needed to win... It is advancing technology and then proposing real solutions that will help us manage this transition."


Credit: AP
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks during a campaign meet-and-greet, Friday, March 15, 2019, at To Share Brewing in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Kirsten Gillibrand

Who: New York Senator

Polling: 0.5%

Quote: “In the last Congress, I passed 18 bills with a Republican House, Senate and President signing them into law. Those are common-sense bills, like rural broadband, money for made-in-America manufacturing, money for small businesses — things that can actually make a difference in places like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.”

Credit: AP
FILE - In this July 5, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks in Houston. Inslee says he opposes a plan to build an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the channel that links Lakes Huron and Michigan. The Washington state governor tells The Associated Press that Enbridge's existing Line 5 pipes and its proposal to replace them with a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac are "a clear and present danger" to the Great Lakes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Jay Inslee

Who: Washington Governor

Polling: Less than 1%

Quote: ““The Enbridge Line 5 pipeline, and the proposed oil tunnel to replace it, are a clear and present threat to the health of the Great Lakes and to our climate.”

FLINT WATER CRISIS 

It's been five years since the Flint Water Crisis started, and it has been a point of discussion in politics ever since. During the 2016 election cycle, then-candidates Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders held a debate there. 

It has even come up a couple of times so far in the 2020 election. 

Credit: AP
In this Jan. 16, 2019, photo, Julian Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, speaks at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

Julian Castro

Who: Former San Antonio Mayor, Housing and Urban Development Director under Obama

Polling: 1.0%

Quote: “We want to be a strong partner with them and connect the dots of economic opportunity and great quality of life so that in places like Flint, somebody can reach their full American dream, just like anywhere else.”

Credit: U.S. Congress
Rep. John K. Delaney, D-Md. (Credit: U.S. Congress)

John Delaney

Who: Former Maryland Congressman

Polling: 0.7%

Quote: “The crisis in Flint, Michigan is just one tragic example of the serious health effects of not ensuring that every American has access to clean water.”

GENERAL QUOTES ABOUT MICHIGAN

A couple of the candidates have not said specific things, yet, about Michigan. Or they haven't said anything at all that's been reported. Here are those remaining candidates. 

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Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, South Bend, Ind. mayor, address the National Action Network (NAN) convention, Thursday April 4, 2019, in New York.

Pete Buttigieg

Who: South Bend, Ind. Mayor

Polling: 5%

Buttigieg has not made any concrete statements about Michigan, but he recently held a donors event in Saugatuck. And his husband, Chasten, is from Traverse City. 

Credit: AP
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker speaks at a town hall in Charleston, S.C, on Saturday, March 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Cory Booker

Who: Former Newark Mayor, current New Jersey Senator

Polling: 1.7%

Quote: Booker's campaign said this: "...Turning the common pain felt by Michiganders and communities across this country into a common purpose under his leadership.”

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Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, speaks during a Democratic primary debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Art, Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Miami, as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., listens at left. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Tulsi Gabbard

Who: Hawaii Congresswoman

Polling: 1%

Gabbard has also not made any campaign statements about Michigan. However, her mother graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 1965 and attended the University of Michigan before moving to Hawaii.

Credit: AP
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks during a news conference, May 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Bill de Blasio

Who: NYC Mayor

Polling: 0.7%

De Blasio has not commented on Michigan. But interestingly, in June, he was the top searched candidate in Luce County in the Upper Peninsula.

Credit: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, Nov. 5, 2017. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

Marianne Williamson 

Who: Author, activist 

Polling: 0.3%

Quote: “Detroit is a piece of my heart.”

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