(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/05/2024) Former President Donald Trump won Michigan on Tuesday night for the second time in his political career after taking all but nine of the state's 83 counties, including the bellwether counties of Saginaw and Muskegon, which Trump lost in his lone Michigan defeat of 2020. 

The victory pads the Republican nominee's winning Electoral College vote total after Wisconsin was declared for Trump earlier in the morning, giving him more than the 270 he needed to win. 

Vice-President Kamala Harris and Democrats critically needed Michigan to move into their column if the Democratic nominee hoped to secure the Electoral College votes she needs to succeed Joe Biden in the White House. 

MIRS is watching the results on a county-by-county basis and comparing them to counties previously won by Trump and the prior Democratic nominees. 

Harris' lack of success isn't for lack of money. Harris and Democrats spent more than $170 million on paid media this election cycle, 46% more than the $116.6 million Donald Trump and his allies spent, based on numbers tallied by AdImpact. 

Money only tells part of the story. Both Harris, Trump and their running mates beat a path to Michigan at seemingly every opportunity. Candidates and their running mates visited a combined 47 times in 2024, or 44 minus President Joe Biden’s three campaign visits before dropping out. This is more than the visits of the Republican and Democratic tickets in 2020 and 2016 combined. 

Trump and Sen. JD Vance visited 26 times, the last four times taking place between Nov. 1-4, and Harris and Minn. Gov. Tim Walz visited 19 times, with the last three times taking place between Nov. 1-4. Again, three visits could be added to the Democrats’ totals to account for Biden’s campaigning. 

The grassroots organization from both operations also couldn't have been more different. The Michigan Democratic Party ran a centralized operation with the assistance of environmental groups and organized labor to drive voters to the poll, particularly in the closing days.  

The Michigan Republican Party (MRP), on the other hand, built the plane in flight after former MRP Chair Kristina Karamo drove the party into near-bankruptcy in 2023 and fought incoming party leaders after they voted to oust her in January. Republicans counted on a constellation of help from the Mike Rogers senate campaign, the House congressional campaigns, House Republicans, Elon Musk's Super PAC and other supporters to drive voters to the polls. 

Polling has shown the race for Michigan to be extremely tight after Biden left the race amid miserable approval ratings. 

Speaking of Biden’s departure from the top of the ticket, let’s go over the major headlines of the election since June 27, when Trump and Biden’s debate marked the beginning of the end for the current chief executive.  

Two weeks later, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids), Michigan’s most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in Congress, became the first of our seven Congressional Democrats to call on Biden to drop out of the race. 

The first credible attempt to assassinate Trump took place on July 13 in Pennsylvania, prompting a response from Biden, to address the culture of politics that would lead to such an event. Trump announced his selection of U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate two days after that, kicking off the Republican National Convention that lasted July 15-18. 

Next, on July 19, Trump held his first campaign event following the assassination attempt at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, nestled right in pivotal Kent County, where he returned earlier Tuesday morning to close his campaign. 

On July 21, Biden announced he would be leaving the top of the ticket in a statement posted on X, then endorsing Harris in a second post. MIRS headlines between July 19-21 recount the instances in which Trump said he’d want to run against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer if Biden dropped out and Whitmer not mentioning Biden in a fundraising text when it comes to winning Michigan. Still the wagons circled around Harris quickly and soon all Democrats, including Whitmer, were on board, preventing a messy convention fight. 

Harris had 16 days to then vet and choose a running mate, another office Whitmer quashed rumors of eyeing. On Aug. 6, Harris and Walz embarked on a battleground states tour, that including Detroit on Aug. 7. They took on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later that month, Aug. 19-22. 

The second assassination attempt against Trump took place on Sept. 15, and for the second time he visited Michigan as his first campaign stop after the event . This time, Harris was the opponent to issue a statement calling for an ease of political tensions.