Second Gentleman of the United States Doug Emhoff leaves the Whistle Stop Diner in Oakland County, Michigan on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)
“Yes she can,” was the message on second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s shirt as he ducked into a lunch at the Whistle Stop Diner in Oakland County on Election Day, hyping up his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris.
In 2020, Harris also was in Michigan on Election Day, making a stop in Detroit. President Joe Biden ended up winning the state.
Emhoff joined Harris on Monday in Pennsylvania where thousands gathered outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Democratic presidential nominee, who was joined by several celebrity guests such as Lady Gaga, Oprah and Ricky Martin.
“You could just see the joy. You can see the emotion and that connection that in just in these 15 weeks that Kamala Harris, my wife, has just gotten that message out there and you just feel it,” Emhoff told reporters after his meal with supporters in Oakland County.
Michigan, like Pennsylvania, is a crucial battleground state for both Harris and former President Donald Trump. Both Michigan and Pennsylvania flipped in 2016 for Trump after voting Democratic in every presidential election since 1992.
Suburban Oakland County has been trending more Democratic in recent years after being a GOP stronghold. If Harris can keep up momentum, the state’s second most populous county could prove critical to helping put her over the top in the whole state.
Trump made an early Election Day morning play for another battleground county within battleground Michigan: Kent County on the west side of the state.
Like Harris, his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids was well attended. Thousands of supporters kept their energy high as the former president spoke two hours later than he was expected to, ending his remarks past 2 a.m., just hours before polls opened.
Emhoff was all smiles, taking selfies with fellow diners and laughing with Democratic leaders like U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) in the restaurant.
“I think we’re gonna win this election,” Emhoff told reporters, noting the positivity he saw in the diner which matches the mood along the campaign trail. “We’re gonna win here in Michigan and in the next day or so I’m gonna be able to look at her and say, ‘Honey, you’re the president of the United States.’”
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