A GOP mayor in Michigan will be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden in his state’s forthcoming Democratic primary.
Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor, who voted for President Trump in 2016 and has never supported a Democrat, endorsed Biden on Monday, giving the 77-year-old Democratic candidate a boost at a key time. Of the six states holding primaries on Tuesday, Michigan has the most delegates up for grabs.
“I think Joe Biden is the candidate who can unify all of the Democrats, and he’s the candidate who can appeal to moderates and Republicans like me who don’t want to see four more years of President Trump,” Taylor told the Chicago Tribune.
The mayor of Michigan’s fourth-largest city explained that he is voting for Biden in hopes of swinging votes in a state that went for Trump over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last election cycle by just over 10,000 votes.
Taylor’s endorsement fits into Democrats’ larger strategy to win back blue-collar districts that flipped for Trump in 2016. Macomb County, where Sterling Heights is located, voted twice for former President Barack Obama before swinging for Trump.
