Kamala Harris' longtime supporters welcome her return to the top of the ticket

Kamala Harris’ ascendance as the Democratic favorite for the 2024 presidential nomination has unleashed a tide of new support for the vice president. Her newfound ‘brat’ pack is relishing endorsements from social-media-age celebrities like Charli XCX and longtime political powerhouses like Nancy Pelosi. Coconut memes — a reference to a speech Harris gave at a White House event last year — are inescapable.

But this flood of new support is a powerful stream meeting a steady river: voters who have championed Harris’ presidential aspirations since her bid in the 2020 race. In Detroit, longstanding supporters are excited to see her back on the top of the ticket.

Sharon Baseman, a graphic designer and delegate for Michigan at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, was a Harris hopeful during the 2020 cycle.

“I love everything about her,” she said. “Her experience, her strength, her joy of life. In 2019, I kind of mourned for a few days after she dropped out.”

When she heard President Joe Biden had dropped out and endorsed Harris, Baseman, a seasoned campaign volunteer, was at an Oakland County Democratic Party picnic. “At that point, we didn’t know how it was going to go. But the way everyone coalesced behind her and the amount of money she’s been able to raise is mind-boggling,” she said.

Baseman pulled an old Harris 2020 yard sign out of her basement on Sunday night and stuck it in her lawn until the new ones come in.

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Harris has broken fundraising records right out of the gate. In her first 24 hours as a presidential candidate for ‘24, she pulled in $81 million in contributions. To contextualize that: Biden and Trump had each raised between $200 and $300 million over the course of their campaigns.

During Harris’ 10-month campaign in 2019, she raised $43 million before joining the ticket with Biden. In Michigan, she brought in some $200,000 in contributions over the $200 Federal Election Commission reporting threshold. Her big ticket donors in the state included Janet Blanchard, career public servant and the wife of former Gov. Jim Blanchard; Suzanne Shank, chair of the Detroit Regional Chamber; former Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy and his late wife; and the team’s vice chairman Arn Tellem and his media-exec wife, Nancy.

Election analysts look at all sorts of metrics to measure how a particular candidate might perform at the ballot box. Polls give an idea of how voters are leaning, while how much money a campaign is spending — and where — can offer insight into who they are targeting. In the world of election interpretation, donations can be an indicator of voters’ enthusiasm for a candidate, said Adrian Hemond, CEO of Grassroots Midwest, a bipartisan advocacy consulting firm, in an interview with the Free Press last month.

Michigan holds significant sway in this election — just as it did in 2020. The state, which Biden won by 2.8% in the last cycle, is considered by election experts to be a key tipping point, along with Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada.

Contributions for President Joe Biden were trailing former president Donald Trump in the state, even before many began to question Biden's candidacy after his performance in a nationally televised presidential debate, a Free Press analysis of Michiganders’ campaign donations found. Polls also showed that the President’s popularity was slipping among Michigan voters.

"Elections are a lot of work, and frankly a lot of unpaid work by volunteers — people phone banking and knocking doors," said Hemond. "Enthusiasm is what makes people do that for free. So it's super important to have enthusiastic people who are willing to help spread a campaign's message and help draw out their voters to the polls," he said.

Several of Harris' Michigan backers expressed steady support for Biden, even as a chorus of Democratic leaders and legacy media outlets called for him to step down, but were relieved to move on from the concern around his age.

“My stomach was in knots and my heart was pounding every day,” said Baseman of the post-debate media storm. “After Sunday I felt a sense of relief that we could move on now,” she said.

“Not only have the Democrats taken Joe Biden’s age off the table, they have now put Donald Trump’s age front and center on the table,” said Jeff Padden, a public policy consultant and former politician who donated to Harris, Pete Buttigeg and Elizabeth Warren in 2020 — then happily backed Biden when those three dropped out.

“I do believe that in the end he did the right thing, he did the courageous thing and he did the patriotic thing. Not to mention he’ll get a little more time to hang out with his family,” said Padden. He plans to renew his contribution to Harris.

Nicole Baker, a Detroit metro-based professional who donated to Harris’ 2020 campaign, is also looking to renew her contributions — this time setting up a monthly subscription. Baker put it simply: “I back her 100%,” she said.

Carmela Guaglianone is a Dow Jones News Fund data intern with the Detroit Free Press. Reach her at cguaglianone@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kamala Harris' Michigan supporters welcome her back as nominee