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Battleground state Michigan prepares to be a crucial swing state as RNC closes Thursday

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  • Donald Trump & his running mate JD Vance are riding momentum at the Republican National Convention
  • This comes as Vice President Kamala Harris visits mid-Michigan to stump for the Biden campaign
  • Video shows a political expert explaining Michigan's importance this November and a voter who's sticking by his party

Republicans are riding a wave of momentum but Democrats are trying to get ahead of the GOP by paying a visit to crucial swing state Michigan.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Kalamazoo on Wednesday to talk about hot-button issues such as reproductive rights and gun control.

On Saturday, former president Donald Trump and his running mate for vice president, Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance, plan to visit Grand Rapids on Saturday.

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Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at Michigan State University, says there's heightened attention on the presidential race following President Joe Biden's debate performance and the attempted assassination on Trump.

"A month ago a lot of voters were tuning this race out, thinking it was going to be a boring re-do of 2020," Grossmann said.

Grossmann says Republicans have seen gains among White voters without college degrees even as that constituency becomes a smaller part of the electorate. Grossmann adds both parties are seeing major changes in party coalitions.

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"Black voters, Hispanic voters, and young voters, who may traditionally have a tie to the Democratic Party but have some views that are more aligned with the Republican Party, might move over this time," Grossmann said.

The GOP's momentum isn't stopping Michigan State senior Liam Richichi, president of the club MSU College Democrats, from voting in his first presidential election.

"I'm excited to be able to actually cast my vote for the president for the first time," Richichi said.

But Richichi is hoping Democrats will turn a more aggressive tone on what the Biden Administration has accomplished.

"The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, saving so many students and graduate students on student loans," Richichi said. "There's a lot of monumental legislation and messaging that just needs to be blasted."

Grossmann says Michigan can expect to see more political visits and advertising in the coming months and is also using the mood of the globe to figure out where voters might be leaning towards.

"Voters all over the world are unhappy with an inflation post-COVID economy. They're voting against incumbent parties everywhere," Grossmann said.

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