WASHINGTON − Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris will be in Saginaw and Macomb counties Monday as she makes her final push to win voters just over one week before Election Day, according to two sources familiar with Harris’ campaign schedule.
The Saginaw stop will feature a visit to a manufacturing facility in Richland Township operated by Hemlock Semiconductors, which won a $325 million federal grant one week prior to expand its Michigan operations. During the Macomb stop, Vice President Harris will tour a labor union training facility with instructors and apprentices.
Vice President Harris is expected to deliver remarks arguing why her economic policies represent the best path for blue-collar workers, how GOP nominee Donald Trump failed to deliver for them during his first term as president and why he wouldn’t in a second term.
A major part of her platform is continuing investments the Biden administration made to boost Michigan’s automotive and manufacturing sectors − which play an outsize role compared to most other states − through legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass in the U.S. Senate.
The Hemlock award comes from CHIPS funding and, per the U.S. Commerce Department, will create over 1,000 temporary construction jobs and about 180 permanent manufacturing jobs. It will be across the street from the site of a separate, $900 million manufacturing project from Corning Inc. that the White House announced last week would receive a significant tax break as part of the IRA.
The Hemlock facility will make polysilicon pure enough for usage in advanced computer chips and other technologies. Some of that high-grade polysilicon is expected to be used at the new Corning plant, which will make components for solar panels.
“Michigan is very, very important to the President and the Vice President,” National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard told The Detroit News last week following the back-to-back announcements benefitting the noted electoral bellwether county.
Blue-collar workers and communities that rely on them have been long been crucial to candidates winning Michigan, though the bloc has gotten increased attention since Trump burst onto the political scene in 2016 and appealed to voters who felt left behind as many of their jobs shifted overseas.
Trump bashed the CHIPS and Science Act during an appearance Friday on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, saying that his economic plan featuring tariffs instead of government-directed investments is the better path forward.
“That chip deal is so bad,” the former president said. “We put up billions of dollars for rich companies to come in and borrow the money and build chip companies here.”
“All you had to do is charge them tariffs,” he added, suggesting that foreign computer chip makers would relocate to the United States if charged import taxes.
Economists have cast doubt on tariffs as an effective tool to coerce businesses to relocate to the U.S., but Trump has frequently vowed that would be case.
He last visited Michigan on Saturday, delivering remarks at a rally in Novi.
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