Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., alerted the Democratic Party to their weak points in Michigan ahead of the 2024 presidential election during a media appearance Tuesday morning.
The liberal congresswoman spoke to a CNN panel about the party’s lagging support among seniors and union members in her state. Though she said she was not as worried about the election as she was a month ago.
"We still have a union hall problem, to be perfectly frank," Dingell told network commentator Bakari Sellers during "CNN This Morning," airing live from the Democratic National Convention.
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Sellers prompted Dingell’s warnings by asking whether she was as worried about Michigan voting for former President Trump this election cycle as she was in 2016, when she sounded alarm bells that the state was in play for Republicans.
"In 2016, you were the loudest voice, maybe the only voice, flashing those warning signs that Michigan was in danger to Donald Trump. What are you seeing out there now? I mean, do you see those same warning signs?" Sellers asked.
The lawmaker replied that she’s not as worried as she was a month ago, when she saw problems among more key demographics.
"If you had asked me a month ago, I was very worried. We had four demographics that I was worried about. There's more enthusiasm – young people – not all young people. We‘ve still got college campuses that are, that are mixed, are coming back. The African American community’s coming back."
However, Dingell acknowledged two of the four voter groups are still posing issues for the party, saying, "We still have a union hall problem to be perfectly frank, and it‘s how close is the election going to be? And then the Mideast continues to play out."
"And a new area that I’m kinda paying attention to is seniors. I heard a lot of seniors – I went to about ten seniors’ meetings last week. It was the 89th birthday of Social Security," she said.
Quoting some of these concerned seniors she met, Dingell said, "’Do we not matter? Do they think we’re irrelevant? Are both parties throwing us out?’"
The congresswoman concluded, "We have work to do. There’s more energy, there’s more enthusiasm. It’s going to come down to who turns out their vote."
CNN anchor Kasie Hunt asked the lawmaker what Vice President Harris needs to do to shore up union voters ahead of November, to which Dingell replied that Harris needs to keep visiting union halls and speaking to members.
"They’re already walking into union halls. She was in local 900 last week where the strikes started. I talked to a lot of those guys after she was there. I‘ve talked to every president in the state of Michigan and most of the national. I‘m going in those halls. She‘s going in those halls. We‘re going to talk to ‘em."
