Rural Michigan communities that could play a pivotal role in determining the next president are showing little visible enthusiasm just three months before voters head to the polls.
“We’ve actually seen a lot less campaign signs and ads,” Michigan resident Brandi Jones wrote in a Los Angeles Times article discussing the seemingly “invisible” campaign. “Usually at this time of year in an election we’re bombarded with ads, and it’s exhausting and frustrating. This year there’s absolutely nothing.”
The report said Michigan’s vast rural roads and small towns were devoid of the usual signs of enthusiasm – such as campaign posters, flags bearing the candidates’ names and campaign ads – and showed few signs of the looming presidential election.
Trump’s running mate JD Vance has been shadowing Harris on the campaign trail this week
Vice President Harris and former President Trump (Getty Images)
A Los Angeles Times reporter who “drove hundreds of miles across the state” reported seeing only 16 presidential campaign signs, mostly on rural streets and roads. State experts told the paper that the lack of visible campaign enthusiasm in the state is a stark difference from the situation before the 2016 and 2020 elections, when the same areas were awash with pro-Trump signs and flags.
“We’ve been seeing a few here and there over the last few weeks, but it’s definitely not what we saw in 2016 or 2020,” Thomas Ivako, former executive director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, told the Los Angeles Times.
Along a 42-mile stretch of backroads in Ingham and Livingston counties east of Lansing, only one flag supporting former President Trump was visible, and no flags bearing the names of President Biden or Vice President Harris were seen.
“This election isn’t that big a deal,” one local resident who said he plans to vote for Trump told the outlet.
“People know who they’re voting for and they’re tired of the election,” local resident Joan Sanders told the Los Angeles Times.
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But the Trump campaign remains confident in the voter enthusiasm it will need to win the election, pointing to its expanded Michigan operation that has seen the opening of several new offices in the state and thousands of volunteers stepping up to support the former president.
In Michigan and other key battleground states, the campaign hopes to assemble more than 100,000 volunteers and lawyers — a small army of support that could only be made viable by voter enthusiasm.
On July 20, 2024, more than 12,000 people gathered at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to watch the first joint rally of former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)
The campaign is also focusing on running the election on a message that counters the current administration’s record, one that it believes will resonate with Michigan voters.
“Dangerously liberal Kamala Harris is responsible for all the hardships Michiganders have faced over the past three and a half years,” Victoria LaCivita, the Trump campaign’s Michigan communications director, told Fox News Digital. “Her policies have led to skyrocketing inflation, the inability to afford gas and groceries, violent crime perpetrated by illegal immigrants, and California’s elitist obsession with electric cars.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Both sides are expected to continue to spend significant time making their case and mobilizing supporters in the state, which is expected to once again feature a close race that could ultimately determine the winner of the election.
Trump rode a wave of enthusiasm to break through the famous “Blue Wall” and win Michigan by less than half a percentage point in 2016, the first time the state voted for a Republican candidate since 1988. But he lost to Biden by fewer than 3 percentage points in another closely fought election four years later.
On July 20, 2024, thousands of people lined the streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to attend former President Trump’s first rally since the assassination attempt. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)
This year’s race is expected to be close again, with Harris leading by two points as of Monday, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.
But LaCivita remains optimistic, arguing that Michiganders will push back against the Biden administration’s record.
“There could be nothing worse for Michiganders than a Biden-Harris administration, and that’s why voters will overwhelmingly support Donald J. Trump in November,” LaCivita said.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
