Whitmer: Biden had state's back during 'toughest moments'

Detroit -- In a whirlwind of visits to Detroit churches, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist rallied black voters Sunday around former vice president Joe Biden ahead of Michigan's Tuesday primary.

Whitmer, who announced her endorsement of Biden on Thursday, urged Michigan residents to support the former vice president, who she said had the state’s back during its most distressing moments.

“When our back was against the ropes, it was the Obama Biden administration that helped out the auto industry in our toughest moments and because of that everybody benefitted from it,” Whitmer said.

Gilchrist, who voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016, switched his support to Biden on Friday and joined the chorus of Michigan leaders painting Biden as a friend of Detroit and Michigan during his eight years as vice president.

“The black vote is going to turn out in big numbers here on Tuesday,” Gilchrist told CNN Friday.

While surrogates like Whitmer, Gilchrist and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar stormed the state for Biden over the weekend, Sanders did his own campaigning with Get Out the Vote rallies in Detroit, Dearborn, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is expected to join Sanders in Ann Arbor and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. will campaign alongside Sanders in Grand Rapids.

Biden is expected to arrive in Michigan Monday with planned stops in Grand Rapids and Detroit alongside Whitmer, Duggan and California Sen. Kamala Harris, a former primary rival who endorsed Biden on Sunday.

More than 600,000 voters had already voted absentee in Michigan as of Friday but more than a million more are expected to vote in person on Tuesday, drawing the candidates and their supporters to the state this weekend in a last-minute appeal to voters.

Six states have their primaries on Tuesday, but Michigan controls the most Democratic delegates of the states. 

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan joined Whitmer during her last stop Sunday at Good Times on the Ave, where they met with supporters and posed for photos with diners and employees.

Duggan endorsed Biden shortly after the former vice president joined the Democratic presidential primary last year. Duggan has touted Biden’s frequent visits to Detroit during and after the city’s bankruptcy as proof of Biden’s dedication to the state.

“The thing about Detroit and Michigan is we can relate to the underdog,” Duggan said. “We’ve been down and gotten back up. And there is something about the way Joe Biden had been written off three weeks ago and came back that I think is resonating in the city.”

Supporters of Whitmer showed up to cheer the governor’s endorsement during her last stop on Livernois Avenue. Dolores Brown wore a Women for Governor Whitmer T-shirt, but she said her loyalty extends to the governor’s endorsed candidate.

“To me he exudes integrity,” Brown said. “He is honest and I love him.”

eleblanc@detroitnews.com