On Wednesday afternoon, the presidential race out of Michigan was called in favor of President-Elect Donald Trump. By gaining Michigan, he earned the state's 15 electoral votes, thus expanding his electoral tally even further.
Decision Desk HQ projects Donald J. Trump wins the Presidential election in Michigan.#DecisionMade: 1:21 PM EDT
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 6, 2024
Follow live results here:https://t.co/rdu4jAZlbC pic.twitter.com/f1YtKqcR7p
Michigan went back and forth as to whether Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump was leading there, and it was at one point considered one of Trump's trickier state to win. RealClearPolling ultimately had Harris leading by +0.5. Nate Silver's final forecast had Harris leading by +1.2 on Tuesday, with polling trends from the past week favoring Democrats.
Trump managed to flip Michigan in 2016 to win the presidency, though he lost in 2020 to President Joe Biden. Other than 2016, Michigan hasn't voted for the Republican nominee since 1988.
Harris had been desperately trying to cater to the Muslim and Arab populations in Michigan with ads on the Israel-Hamas War, in strong contrast to her ads catering to Jewish voters in Pennsylvania. Trump won both of those states, with Pennsylvania having the most electoral votes of any swing state, at 19 of them. Ultimately, Pennsylvania put Trump over the 270 threshold.
Trump also made a genuine effort to win Arab voters, including and especially in Michigan. Trump and his surrogates also highlighted the closeness between the Harris-Walz campaign and the Cheneys, especially former Rep. Liz Cheney, and how much of an anathema they were to the Arab and Muslim populations views on peace in the Middle East.
Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) appeared on CNN to lament to Erin Burnett about how Green Party candidate Jill Stein won 18 percent of the vote in Dearborn, which has the highest Muslim population per capita in the country. The mayor of Dearborn, as well as Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, whose district includes Dearborn, both declined to endorse Harris.
Trump referenced that he was leading in Michigan and other key swing states when he made his speech earlier on Wednesday morning, to applause from the crowd. He also has won or leads in the other key states, so stay tuned for coverage from Townhall.