Michigan elections FAQ: Key regions, voting blocs and races to watch

• In new Michigan elections FAQ show, Bridge reporters break down key regions, voting blocs and races to watch on Tuesday
• Reporters also answered questions from Bridge readers and viewers, including questions about election procedures
• In her final Michigan campaign rally, Kamala Harris did not mention Donald Trump by name. Reporters explain why

Kamala Harris is courting Republicans. Donald Trump is wooing voters in heavily Democratic Detroit. What gives?

Welcome to the home stretch of the topsy-turvy Michigan election, where both Harris and Trump want to rewrite the playbook for building a winning coalition amid a major political realignment.

“When it's such a close race, every vote matters,” reporter Simon Schuster said Monday during the latest episode of the Bridge elections FAQ show. “And so we're seeing a lot of constituencies and individual communities that may have not had a lot of attention paid to them in the past get a lot more attention.”

Watch the full episode in the player below to see the full discussion, including reader questions answered by reporters:

Key blocs in the Michigan election

Schuster has been exploring Michigan's political cross currents for months and last week highlighted key voting blocs that both Harris and Trump believe could unlock the state in Tuesday's presidential election. 

Trump, unlike many recent Republican nominees, is heavily courting union workers, Black men and Arab Americans. Harris is fighting to hold on to many of those same voters while urging disaffected Republicans to back her Democratic campaign, and she’s secured high-profile GOP endorsements in the process.

Related: Meet the Michigan voters who may decide the election for Trump or Harris 

That effort to appeal to moderate Republicans may explain why Harris did not mention Trump by name in her Sunday evening rally at Michigan State University. 

She’s attempting to “close positive” and echo her former running mate Joe Biden’s message of “bringing Americans together, healing the soul of the country, and then contrasting that with Donald Trump's rhetoric, which is more a little bit more divisive, a little bit more doom and gloom,” Schuster said. “And so really trying to set a tonal contrast there.”

Key regions in the Michigan election

Michigan is one of seven swing states that could decide the election. So as data reporter Mike Wilkinson recently reported, both candidates are working Michigan like a puzzle, hoping to collect enough votes here to put them over the top.

Harris is trying to build on recent gains in Oakland County and west Michigan, while Trump is attempting to peel off voters in places like Detroit while running up the score in rural areas. 

Related: In razor-thin race, watch these Michigan regions in Harris, Trump race 

"What I'm really fascinated by is that there were 50 municipalities, townships and cities that voted for Trump in 2016 and then voted for Biden in 2020," Wilkinson said Monday in the FAQ show.  

They're largely "small places" like Leland Township in Leelanau County, Tecumseh in Lenawee County and Texas Township, just outside of Kalamazoo, he noted. 

"When I looked into it a little bit, almost all of these places were heavily higher educated places. And you see that the shoreline area in northwest Michigan -- places that all went for Trump -- but from Emmet, Antrim, Benzie and Grand Traverse counties, they all moved to the left."

Key races for the Michigan House

Republicans are making a strong push to flip the Michigan House and slow Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during her last two years in office. 

Democrats face an uphill battle. They won their two-seat majority in 2022, when Whitmer won by double digits at the top of the ticket. The presidential race is expected to be much closer.

Related: Michigan House majority is on the line. These districts will decide it

But there is still a path for Democrats, and it likely runs through Oakland County, said reporter Lauren Gibbons, who recently broke down the most competitive state House races in the state. 

"If Harris is able to run up those numbers and continue making that county more democratic, there are a couple of vulnerable Republican representatives in northern Oakland County that Democrats have been spending tons of money to try and flip."

That said, “Democrats have a lot of vulnerable incumbents who are defending some very, very close races," Gibbons added. 

In particular, Democratic state Rep. Jamie Churches of Wyandotte is locked in a tight Downriver race with Republican Rylee Linting "that everybody's been watching," Gibbons said. "That's the most expensive state House race this cycle."