Drop boxes opened across Michigan on Sept. 26, signaling the start of large-scale voting in the Midwestern battleground state.
With only weeks to go before election Day, it’s difficult to tell who will win.
Lansing
The neoclassical Michigan State Capitol looked stately on the afternoon of Sept. 18. So did the Boji Tower, an Art Deco skyscraper across the street, which was financed by automotive pioneer R.E. Olds, the namesake of Oldsmobile.
Just one block away, however, a boarded-up storefront and throngs of homeless people hinted at some of the problems Michigan’s capital city faces.
Troy Amon and Ted Shiels were sitting outside a City of Lansing government office. Behind them, a historical marker chronicled the city’s history. Close by, another marker commemorated the Lansing Labor Holiday of 1937, when autoworker union members coordinated a general strike across the city.
Amon, who was wearing a United Auto Workers (UAW) T-shirt, said Trump was a pro-union force as president.
Shiels has a low opinion of both major candidates.
“I like his ideas, but he goes about them the wrong way,” he said of the former president. As for Harris, he said, “I definitely don’t want her.”
Both men distrust the large-scale use of drop boxes and absentee ballots for voting.
“You should have to go in and vote in person,” Shiels said.
The economy also has the two worried.
“People can’t afford to live,” Shiels said. “Giving people money, it’s not going to fix the problem. It’s just going to make the problem worse.”
Amon said, “My daughter works two jobs and goes to school full time. She struggles every day.”
A few streets away, The Epoch Times encountered John Artis, a retired prison guard for the State of Michigan.
He recalled that Lansing was “the place to be” during the ‘80s, when automotive jobs were plentiful.
Artis supports Harris.
“I think she’s learning. And I don’t think she can do as bad as [Trump] did,” Artis said when asked whether he views Harris as a real change from President Joe Biden.
“Both sides have to chip in and give and take. There’s a lot of bad things that have happened in this country down the years, but you’ve got to pull together.”
Unlike some others who spoke with The Epoch Times, Artis had a relatively positive view of the economy.
“There’s quite a few jobs out there,” he said.
Artis believes Lansing’s problems could be fixed partly by charging businesses higher rent and persuading wealthier locals—“people that [have] more money than they need”—to donate.
“Lansing could be a lot better,” he said.
Luis Cabrera was more concerned about the economy. He cited price stability and inflation as significant issues.
The Latino man likes Trump. Yet he doesn’t plan on participating in the election.
Waverly
At a shopping mall west of Lansing, Nick Rojas told The Epoch Times he was canvassing the Hispanic electorate for a nonpartisan organization. The pre-med student at the nearby Michigan State University (MSU) hopes to become a physical therapist.
While the young Mexican American personally favors Harris, he said he has seen some indications on social media that Latino voters may be leaning Trump’s way.
Rojas said the voters he has contacted frequently mention the economy among their top issues.
Cassandra Villanueva, an MSU social sciences student and aspiring human resources professional who was with Rojas, said she is concerned about the possibility of a more restrictive abortion policy.
Jim C., a retired Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor and Harris supporter who did not wish to provide his last name, said, “I do wish I’d hear more from the candidates about regulating guns.”
Jim’s wife, Sandy, expressed support for more affordable and universal pre-K and kindergarten education. She taught at those levels before retiring.
Jim said he is happy “to see the Democratic Party coalesce around Kamala Harris.”
He believes the non-committed Democratic Party primary voters who oppose the Biden administration’s Israel policy should get behind the vice president. Many of those voters are Arab and Muslim Americans living in the Detroit area.
The bloc favored Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump has now scored an endorsement from Amer Ghalib, a Yemeni immigrant and the mayor of the Muslim-majority city of Hamtramck. Ghalib backed the former president following a private meeting with him earlier this month.
Dearborn
Not far from Hamtramck, Dearborn is another city in Michigan with a large Muslim population.
It also has a monument to one of Michigan’s Great Men, Henry Ford.
The southeast side of town is dominated by the Ford River Rouge complex. To the west, there’s the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village.
The main public library is palatial and Ford-themed.
Outside, a statue of the automotive innovator faces away from a marble slab. The other side of the slab is inscribed with messages, including “Education is the greatest force in civilization” and “Work is the natural thing to do.”
On Sept. 19, the library patrons seemed to be working hard. Many were women in scarves or hijabs. Unlike in many other urban libraries, there were no homeless people or addicts camped out at tables and computers.
Downtown, a newspaper rack was packed with local publications. One accused Harris of failing to stand with the Palestinians.
Signs for cell phone repair, specialty clinics, and other businesses were written in a mixture of English and Arabic.
A yard sign advertised a place as for “women only.”
Another yard sign urged the people of Dearborn to “vote to preserve our democracy and our freedoms.” It was sponsored by the metropolitan area’s United Church of Christ.
Some on the ground told The Epoch Times they were visiting from foreign countries and so couldn’t take part in the election. Many spoke little to no English.
Jim Beeler was wearing a Trump hat. He was in Dearborn from nearby Taylor, Mich., getting chemotherapy for stage 4 lung and brain cancer.
“I’ve pretty much got it beat, though,” the Trump supporter said.
Beeler thinks voters in the state will be influenced by the prices of everything from food to building materials.
Ali, who would not share his last name, spoke to The Epoch Times outside a supermarket.
He thinks the United States should be spending less money abroad. He anticipates he will vote for a third-party candidate.
Rita, who also did not wish to provide her last name, described herself as an independent voter. She is upset about the scale of illegal immigration.
“I come from a family of immigrants, but they weren’t illegal,” she said, noting that she had Spanish, Italian, and Mexican ancestry. “They didn’t get a bunch of free stuff.”
Hassan, likewise averse to having his last name published, was a grudging Harris supporter.
“She has clear plans. Whether I agree with them or not is another story,” he said, emphasizing that he wasn’t a Democrat.
He described Trump as “the guy who talks about eating dogs and cats.”
“Unfortunately, that’s the best candidate we have,” Hassan said of Harris.
Grand Rapids and Wyoming
On the other side of the state, in a heavily Latino section of Grand Rapids, Cesar Chavez Avenue had its Trump supporters.
One was Mark Martin, an African American voter who spoke to The Epoch Times on Sept. 18.
“I’m worried about the taxes,” he told The Epoch Times, noting that he owns his own business moving parts for automakers.
Jorge Martinez, who was standing nearby, said he liked Trump, too.
“He’s strict with measures overseas,” he told The Epoch Times.
He thinks Trump has gained among black and Hispanic voters because they recall a better economy and a stronger border during his presidency.
South of Grand Rapids, at a mini-mall in suburban Wyoming, Drew chuckled when asked if he supported Trump over Harris.
“That’s not even a question,” he said, telling The Epoch Times he had requested four Trump signs from a local campaign office because his house faces a busy roadway.
“I said, ‘I could actually put like 30 of them in my backyard.’”
He didn’t want to share his last name because of all the criticism he has received for his pro-Trump signage.
Drew cited the economy and illegal immigration as his biggest concerns.
Like Amon in Lansing, he lamented the cost of living for the next generation of his family.
“My daughter can’t afford to move out. Where’s she going to move?” he said. “We can’t do another four years of this.”
