Democrats say they're opening 30 campaign offices, tout 'ground game'

Lansing — Democrats plan to have 30 campaign offices open in Michigan by mid-April, a strategy they say shows the strength of their ground game in a battleground state that could be key to President Joe Biden's reelection bid.

The offices will serve as organizing hubs for volunteers, according to a Friday morning announcement from the Michigan Democratic Party and Biden's campaign.

There will be three offices in Detroit, Michigan's largest city, and others spread throughout the rest of the state, including places such as Gladwin, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Benton Harbor.

In an interview, Lavora Barnes, chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Democrats learned from Hillary Clinton's loss to Republican Donald Trump in 2016. Getting campaign operations going early and refusing to sit back and wait are the right things to do, Barnes said.

"When a race is as close as we had it in 2016 and 2020, the ground game is the difference," Barnes said.

Clinton lost Michigan to Trump by 10,704 votes, a fraction of a percentage point. Since then, Democrats in Michigan won gubernatorial races in 2018 and 2022, and Biden defeated Trump in Michigan in 2020 by about 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, 51%-48%.

However, early polling has shown Trump with an early lead against Biden ahead of the 2024 election.

Trump's campaign announced on Thursday he will visit Grand Rapids next week. It will be the Republican's second stop in Michigan of the year. He spoke at a rally in Waterford Township on Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, both the Republican National Committee and the Michigan GOP have faced leadership overhauls in recent months. At the state level, Michigan Republicans voted to oust former Chairwoman Kristina Karamo on Jan. 6 and replace her with former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra on Jan. 20.

Hoekstra's team has been struggling to wrest control of the party's longtime website and its official Twitter from Karamo supporters.

In a letter to GOP officials on Monday, Hoekstra said the party had gotten a "fresh reboot" in January.

"The previous MIGOP administration seemed focused on just about everything but its main function — helping Republicans win elections," Hoekstra wrote. "As chairman, I am laser-focused on raising money into the state party to support our conservative candidates up and down the ballot across the entire state of Michigan."

But in announcing the Democrats' plans for 30 offices in Michigan, Mike Frosolone, Biden's Michigan campaign manager, said Trump has "no visible strategy in Michigan." Democrats also said in their Friday announcement that Republicans "have yet to open a single campaign office" in the state.

Asked whether Trump's campaign had any offices or staff on the ground in Michigan, Chris LaCivita, Trump campaign senior adviser, said Biden was underwater in national polls while Trump had locked up the GOP presidential nomination "in one of the fastest timelines in modern day political history."

"With an operation fueled by hundreds of thousands of small dollar donors and energized supporters, and without sharing our strategy with Democrats through the media, we have the message, the operation and the money to propel President Trump to victory on Nov. 5," LaCivita said.

cmauger@detroitnews.com