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Harvard Students for Harris canvassed in Michigan over the weekend, traveling to a key battleground state in an attempt to push Vice President Kamala Harris to victory on Election Day.
Around 30 participants knocked upwards of 5,000 doors on Saturday, according to H4H, a student group campaigning for Harris. Dylan J. Morris ’27, the group’s communications director and a participant on the trip, said the canvassers mainly spoke to Arab American and Mexican American voters in southwest Detroit and Dearborn.
The group, formerly known as Harvard for Biden, endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign and rebranded as Harvard Students for Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.
The organization has participated in several canvassing trips throughout the presidential campaign, including in states like Georgia and Maine. This weekend’s trip was coordinated in partnership with the Harris campaign, and H4H volunteers worked alongside students from University of Chicago and Boston College to canvas homes and churches.
Nadia R. Douglas ’25, the organization’s field director, said that the focus of the trip was “to get to communities that, I think, have been definitely disregarded throughout this campaign — in particular, the large Arab community that’s in Dearborn.”
“The organizers on the ground are very aware of this kind of disregard and really lean into having tough conversations and engaging with community members on getting out to vote for Harris,” she added. “The experience itself was incredible.”
Will M. Smialek ’27, a co-founder of H4H, said that the weekend was “a resounding success.
“For many voters, this was their first interaction with any campaign who had canvassers who were able to speak their native languages, from Arabic to Spanish, and speak to the very real concerns of such a diverse area,” he wrote.
Besides reaching out to Arab American and young voters, H4H placed an emphasis on canvassing Spanish-speaking communities in Michigan. Although not a member of H4H, Josh R. Ortiz ’28 volunteered to canvas in Michigan due to his Spanish fluency.
“Michigan is obviously a really important swing state,” Ortiz said. “The election is so close, unfortunately, and I certainly believe that Kamala Harris is the right person for this country. I’m very fearful of what a Trump presidency for another four years would be like, especially as a Latino and Queer person.”
As a resident of Michigan, Morris found the experience especially “empowering.”
“It was great to have a sort of homecoming in my state and be able to say that I did something in this election in such a crucial state,” he said.
