GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Hundreds of people attended the Progressives in the Park event in Grand Rapids on Tuesday to show support for Michigan Democrats in the November election.
Gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer was among those at Tuesday's rally, speaking passionately about why she thinks she's the right choice for Michigan's next governor.
"This is what we see all across the state: People are turning out because they're frustrated our roads are tearing up our cars, our schools are not getting our kids prepared and too many of us can't drink the water coming out of our taps," Whitmer said.
In her mission to turn Michigan blue, Whitmer says the state needs a governor who can get things done.
"We see crowds bigger everywhere we go, bigger than anything we expect," she said. "That tells me we have a real opportunity here. I think the unity on the Democratic side versus the continuous fighting on the Republican side makes me believe we have a platform people can come to because this is about solving problems."
Whitmer wants to improve education and the quality of affordable health care as well as fix Michigan's roads.
"They're really fired up and I think we saw that last Tuesday with the record turnout [during the Michigan primary election]," she said. "We're primed I think with great momentum going into November. We take it seriously, we are showing up and doing the work."
Also taking the stage Tuesday night was Attorney General hopeful Dana Nessel. She's been campaigning alongside Whitmer's former primary opponent Abdul El-Sayed, and said she hopes she and Whitmer can work together if they're both elected.
"The more people we have involved the more people we have coming out to the polls, the more Democratic our state is going to be," Nessel said.
Nessel is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has nearly 25 years of legal experience. She knows the first thing she'd do if elected the next Attorney General.
"I'm shutting down Line 5," she said. "That's the first thing on my list, that's the first thing on my agenda. We are looking at $6.3 billion in economic damages. Millions of people being deprived of safe, clean drinking water. We need to shut it down and we need to do it as soon as possible."
