Yesterday, Donald Trump held a town hall in Flint. A few hours earlier, J.D. Vance spoke in West Michigan at a rally in Kent County. These should have been opportunities to bring people together or offer a plan for our state and our country.

Instead, Trump did what has become typical for his events: he ranted about crowd size at his rallies, bragged about his relationships with Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin, and repeated the lie that the 2020 election was unfair.

Vance was no better, suggesting that Kamala Harris was leading us all on a “path to slavery.”

This is Trump’s 10th visit to Michigan since he launched his 2024 presidential campaign. And it won’t be the last time we see him here.

Because Trump, Vance, and Republicans know what we know: If Trump loses Michigan, he will almost certainly lose the White House — and Republicans will lose the Senate. And the race is tight. At the top of the ticket, and for my race for Senate. And everyone knows it will come down to the wire.

Trump’s visit is part of a clear strategy to throw their resources at Michigan. If you watch even a few minutes of TV here you’ll see millions of dollars of attack ads on a non-stop loop.

The latest polls show our state is virtually tied — for both the presidential and the Senate races. Political forecaster Nate Silver’s recently published analysis said not only that Michigan is a “pure toss-up” but also that there may be no state more important than Michigan in this election.

But we are not powerless. We can impact the outcome of the races in this state.

Want to help? Chip in what you can to my campaign and Tim Kaine and help send a message that Michigan is sure as hell not ready to swing back to Trump.