Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance and other Republicans worked to get out the vote during a stop in Detroit Tuesday.

Absentee ballots are already available in Michigan. And some jurisdictions are already able to begin their early in-person voting periods.

The mandatory early voting period begins on Oct. 26.

Vance said supporters of him and former President Donald Trump should embrace those methods.

“I’ve got to be honest with you. I don’t like the fact that we’ve gone from election day to election season in this country. But it is what it is. And if the Democrats are going to take advantage of every avenue to vote, then Republicans, we’ve got to do it too,” Vance told a crowd at Detroit’s Eastern Market.

That stands in stark contrast to messaging during the 2020 presidential race.

In that election, Trump disparaged absentee voting despite ample evidence that it was safe and secure.

The rally was an opportunity for Republicans to try to expand their base in Michigan during what has been a tight presidential race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

It was Vance’s first event in the Motor City since he signed on as Trump’s running mate, according to the campaign.

In the heavily Black city, the campaign welcomed a speaking lineup that included a pastor and a choir member of a Black church Trump campaigned at this past summer, a woman who discussed being laid off from her auto job, and a congressional candidate.

Despite the handful of Black speakers, the audience for Vance’s mid-afternoon talk appeared to be largely white. Though speeches tried to reach a broader audience.

Martell Bivings Jr., a candidate running for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, encouraged attendees to build support in Detroit.

“It may not be the coolest thing to say you are a Republican in Detroit. But the time is coming where they will be wearing a shirt and saying it was cool to be a Republican in Detroit,” Bivings said, telling the audience to, “be a Republican in Detroit before it’s cool.”

Throughout the program, speakers implored attendees to reach out into their circles and communities and engage with so-called “low propensity voters.”

During his own speech, Vance pitched to young people.

“To young people, I want you to be able to own a slice of your own country. I want you to be able to build something, build some wealth for you and your family,” Vance said.

While this was his first campaign trip to Detroit proper, Vance has been to the region multiple times in recent weeks. Last week, he spoke in Auburn Hills.

Many of the talking points overlapped between the events. Especially on the topics of immigration, the economy and auto industry.

During the Auburn Hills visit, the Detroit News asked whether a second Trump presidency would honor a commitment to help convert a Lansing GM plant for electric vehicle production. Vance tiptoed around that answer.

The Biden Administration had promised a $500 million grant for the factory.

When asked to clarify, Vance told supporters that wasn’t enough.

“$500 million dollars when you have an EV mandate that’s going to cost 117,000 auto worker jobs, I think that Michigan autoworkers deserve more,” Vance said, citing a statistic provided by the America First Policy Initiative.

The “EV mandate” likely refers to an Environmental Protection Agency rule released earlier this year limiting tailpipe emissions in passenger vehicles. It would apply to cars made in model years 2027 to 2032.

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a largely symbolic executive order setting a goal of carbon emission-free vehicles making up half of all vehicles sold by 2030.

JD Vance and Tim Walz squared off on Tuesday in what will likely be the last debate of the 2024 presidential election. It was surprisingly substantive and civil, but how do you judge a candidate’s performance?

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ronald Stevenson, a professor of forensic debate at Wayne State University, says there are two primary elements that determine how someone performs.

“There’s substance and then there’s style, and it’s how you balance those two things that I think ultimately is where individuals come down and have differing opinions on the outcomes of these particular debates,” he said. 

Stevenson and political strategist Dennis Darnoi joined Created Equal on Thursday to discuss how formal debates are won and whether political debates are judged in the same way. 

Use the media player above to listen to the conversation.

Guests:

• Ronald Stevenson serves as a senior lecturer and director of debate at Wayne State University.
• Dennis Darnoi is the founder of Densar Consulting, which is a local political consulting firm that tracks voter data. 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.