President Joe Biden is heading into the general election in must-win Michigan without the backing of the top Democrat in one of its most pivotal counties and with fractures among his Democratic base.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said he’s not endorsing Biden in 2024 and has no plans to campaign for his party’s Democratic nominee. 

Hackel’s decision to sit on the sidelines could be detrimental to Biden’s chances in the Detroit suburb as the longtime Macomb leader is the most popular politician in the county with crossover appeal to both Democrats and Republicans.

While he’s not endorsing former President Donald Trump either, Hackel raised concerns over Biden’s effort to win Macomb and questioned why no one from the president’s campaign has contacted him for support.

“I’ve made it clear that I have no interest in assisting any presidential candidate at this time for this current race,” Hackel told the Washington Examiner on Friday. “None of their teams have ever reached out for such assistance.”

The comments come as Trump is set to rally support in Michigan on Saturday with a pair of events in Detroit, including church outreach to black voters, a traditional Democratic stronghold. Meanwhile, Trump fans are having a MAGA boat parade along Lake St. Clair in Macomb to celebrate Trump’s 78th birthday. The flotilla of boats will be accompanied by a band of Bikers for Trump, who will ride parallel to the parade on land. 

Trump won Macomb County and Michigan in 2016 in an upset victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton by just under 11,000 votes statewide. In 2020, Biden flipped Michigan blue with 154,000 more votes than Trump statewide, but Trump held onto Macomb County with 53% support to Biden’s 45% and nearly 40,000 more votes.

As the home of Reagan Democrats has shifted more to the right, Republicans are counting on Trump holding Macomb County again. They point to blue-collar workers pinched by inflation and high gas prices and skepticism of Biden’s push for electric vehicles, which could chip away at traditional manufacturing jobs that have been the backbone of Michigan’s economy.

“If you look at the makeup of Macomb County, they are good, hardworking people that truly just want to be left alone,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), who represents Macomb County, told the Washington Examiner. “They want to do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay and enjoy their family and enjoy life.”

Now, she said, “Their paycheck does not go as far under Biden as it did under Trump. I think that is the number one indicator.”

Hackel, a centrist Democrat who is considering a run for Michigan governor in 2026 to succeed term-limited Gretchen Whitmer, said he’s never been asked by a presidential candidate to campaign for them in his quarter century in elected office. 

But after he told Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley in late May he dislikes both Trump and Biden and “won’t be voting for anyone just because a political party tells me I have to,” he set off an opportunity for Republicans to point to Biden’s weaknesses. He’s a bit surprised he still hasn’t heard from the Biden campaign in any fashion and said he welcomes the chance to speak on how to “really start championing the cause” in Macomb. 

“They don’t want to miss this opportunity,” Hackel said of Biden’s campaign outreach. “There’s a short period of time between now and the election.”

“Put the effort in,” he added.

‘So much at stake’

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI), who represents the Saginaw and Flint area north of Macomb, said he understands Hackel’s frustration and also wishes the campaign was reaching out to everyone more often. He says Michigan will be a “toss up” race between Biden and Trump, and if Hackel were to go all in for the president it would “make a difference” because of his appeal across the partisan divide.

“There are two ends to the telephone,” Kildee told the Washington Examiner. “These are important elections. People who are waiting around to be invited to do important work, they’re going to wait a long time. That’s just not the way it works. … You don’t get an engraved invitation to try to save our democracy. You swear an oath to do that.”

Kildee added: “It doesn’t make sense to me to punish generations of Michigan and American voters because you’re waiting for a phone call. There’s so much at stake.”

Republican strategist Jamie Roe said Hackel’s backing, or lack thereof, is notable given his clout in the region. When Hackel is on the ballot, he’s consistently the top vote-getter in Macomb, netting more votes than federal and gubernatorial candidates at the top of the ticket.

“Mark Hackel is actually very strong across Macomb County because he governs in a pretty conservative manner, and he doesn’t play partisan politics,” said Roe, chief of staff to former GOP Rep. Candice Miller, who earned Hackel’s backing in her run for Macomb Public Works Commissioner. “He focuses on his job, and quite honestly, he does a pretty darn good job as our county executive. So I wasn’t shocked by it, but, you know, I think it’s indicative of the fact that Joe Biden’s got serious issues in Macomb County, and Donald Trump has serious strengths in Macomb County.”

If Hackel changes his mind, it would be “a helpful endorsement” for Biden, Roe said. The county leader could also be making a “political calculation” because throwing support behind Biden could cost him electorally with Republicans who routinely “vote every four years for Mark Hackel.”

‘Uncommitted’ protest vote warning shot

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Democratic Party, Biden is bleeding support for his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), more than 101,000 Democrats snubbed the president and voted “uncommitted” in the Michigan primary in February.

With no ceasefire deal since and dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, Sameh Elhady, a member of the Michigan Democratic Party and Macomb County Democrats, said Biden’s credibility has tanked with Michigan Arab American, Muslim, and young voters. 

“But for Biden to do something that can save him in Macomb or in Michigan, I don’t think there is anything to be done, because, nothing, you had a lot of time to do anything that could maybe give you some credit back,” Elhady told the Washington Examiner. “You lost Middle Eastern, you lost Arabs, you lost Muslims, you lost progressives, you lost young voters, at least in Michigan.”

Biden also lost Elhady.

“I’m going to vote Democrat for all positions on the ballot, even vice president, but president, I’m gonna leave it empty,” he told the Washington Examiner on Friday.

Biden was in Michigan on May 19 to address the NAACP Detroit Branch Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner and previously was in Saginaw County for a low-key event with no public comments in March.

The president last visited Macomb County in February to speak at the United Auto Workers union hall. He netted the formal endorsement of UAW leadership after joining them on the picket line last year in their strike against Detroit automakers. 

The Biden campaign did not provide comment to the Washington Examiner. 

However, the campaign pointed to activities on the ground as a sign that Biden wasn’t taking Macomb County or any part of Michigan for granted, including opening a field office in Macomb’s Sterling Heights in March as part of its network of 32 offices statewide. Biden campaign surrogates also held a press event Friday in advance of Trump’s return to Michigan to blast the Republican and warn his policies would hurt black Michiganders. 

During the Trump boat parade Saturday, the Democratic National Committee is expected to fly an airplane over water revelers with a banner reading: “Trump is a crook, don’t let em sink ur boat.”

Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges last month in a New York hush money criminal case and awaits sentencing in July. However, his guilty verdicts and three other criminal cases regarding 2020 election interference and mishandling of classified documents have not made a major dent in his approval. Trump leads Biden by a hair — 47% to 46.7% — in the RealClearPolitics average of polling in Michigan. 

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As for Hackel, he’s not sitting out the election completely, and plans to campaign for Democrat Anthony Wickersham, who is running again for county sheriff. Unlike the Biden campaign, Hackel said Wickersham asked him directly for support. 

“Why aren’t more efforts being drawn to Macomb County knowing it’s such a battleground and yet now you have a county executive who’s never even been asked or even talked to,” Hackel said of the Biden campaign. “I mean, it’s kind of interesting if you think about it.”