SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) \u2014 Hurley Coleman Jr.’s parents were drawn to Michigan from the South by the promise of middle-class jobs in the booming automotive industry, an origin story shared by many African American families in Saginaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mass layoffs beginning in the late 20th century precipitated a dramatic decline in Saginaw\u2019s population and economy, accompanied by a sharp rise in political turmoil within the city and throughout the region around it. This unrest peaked in 2016, mirroring the trend set off by economic stress in many Rust Belt cities<\/u><\/a>, when the area voted Republican for the first time in decades and helped Donald Trump win the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was unrest in so many corners, in so many ways and it just happened that you had a candidate who was irascible enough to be able to tap into that unrest,\u201d said Coleman. \u201cThere are a lot of people who still have that unrest, but they\u2019re paying attention now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning Saginaw County blue again in 2020 \u2014 by a margin of 303 votes \u2014 contributed to Joe Biden\u2019s success in securing the critical \u201cblue wall\u201d states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, all pivotal in Trump\u2019s previous victory as well. Leaders in both parties have said that it will be next to impossible for either presidential candidate to win the White House this year without winning Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Now, Biden faces the challenge of persuading voters there to grant him another term, a task he hopes to tackle during his visit to Saginaw Thursday afternoon. The visit is part of a two-day swing<\/u><\/a> through Wisconsin and Michigan that started Wednesday as the president looks to create momentum for his reelection campaign after clinching the Democratic nomination<\/u><\/a> on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>\u201cPresident Joe Biden knows that if there is a place in America that he can tell his story to a people that need to hear it, Saginaw is that typical place,\u201d said Coleman, a pastor who is planning to help Biden in his reelection bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saginaw, a Democratic stronghold, is encircled by predominantly Republican areas within the larger county. Described as a microcosm of the entire state, Saginaw County is the only Michigan county to have voted for the winning presidential candidate in the last four elections. In that respect it has largely replaced Macomb County north of Detroit as the go-to destination for political consultants and media looking to take the temperature of what might well be the ultimate swing state, with Macomb sliding steadily further into the Republican camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Saginaw area boasts a large number of union-affiliated voters, a demographic that Biden has targeted<\/u><\/a> in his reelection campaign. He has received multiple key union endorsements<\/u><\/a> even as Trump lays claim to being the candidate of choice for working people despite many union leaders saying his first term<\/u><\/a> showed otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 44,000-person city at the heart of the county is also home to a significant Black community, comprising 46% of Saginaw\u2019s residents. Energizing this demographic could be pivotal in November as Biden\u2019s campaign navigates challenges in other regions<\/u><\/a> of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that the president recognizes the importance of getting into a community as diverse as Saginaw and having the conversation and having the face-to-face time with folks,\u201d said Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over 100,000 Democratic voters in Michigan opted to vote \u201cuncommitted\u201d in the state\u2019s Feb. 27 primary in what had been pushed by activists as a protest vote against<\/u><\/a> Biden\u2019s handling of the war in Gaza. Top Biden advisors, both from the campaign<\/u><\/a> and the White House<\/u><\/a>, have traveled frequently over the past several months to places like Dearborn, a Detroit suburb with the nation\u2019s highest concentration of Arab Americans, in their efforts to win back what had been a reliably Democratic constituency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But some Michigan Democrats in recent weeks have cautioned the party about overlooking restlessness within a significantly larger and politically influential demographic: Black voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden\u2019s support among Black voters has waned considerably since he assembled his winning coalition four years ago, when he was backed by 91% of Black voters nationwide, according to AP VoteCast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n