Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

With time running out before Michigan's primary election on Tuesday, a pair of candidates lagging in the polls took the time on Thursday to make the case for their campaigns.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders followed up his huge rally in East Lansing Wednesday night with a stinging rebuke of his chief rival’s past support for trade policies.

The Lansing Township news conference Thursday morning, in which Sanders was flanked by union members, was geared toward trying to attract labor support to his campaign, which is struggling in second place behind Hillary Clinton.

“A campaign is not just about what you said yesterday. It’s about what you’ve stood for your entire career,” Sanders said. “On one of the most important issues facing millions of working people, Secretary Clinton and I have very, very different points of view.”

And in Detroit, Ohio Gov. John Kasich told reporters that he will win Ohio, which will effectively deny the nomination to front-runner Donald Trump. The nomination will then head toward a contested convention, Kasich said, in which no candidate will bring a majority of delegates. In that case, delegates would be free to vote for anyone to be president, including someone who has not run a campaign this year.

“If I win Ohio, he’s not going to be the nominee,” Kasich said of Trump. “I’m going to go to the convention, and I’m going to be the nominee. Because I don’t know if you noticed, but the convention is in Ohio.”

Sanders, who is trailing Clinton in most Michigan polls and in the number of delegates already awarded, made his comments three days before he'll meet Clinton in a debate in Flint, where the public health crisis caused by lead-contaminated water has become a defining issue for both campaigns.

Sanders to UAW crowd in Dearborn: 'We need fair trade'

But on Thursday, Sanders only talked about trade. He has opposed all trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, because he said they’ve been disastrous for working families. He was backed up by Kim Ward, a former American Axle worker from Detroit, who went on strike in 2006, took a buyout from the company and lost her husband in a building collapse after he lost his job from the same company.

“I just feel that if we hadn’t lost our jobs, he would be alive today,” she said. “I stand with Sen. Sanders because he’s fighting for all of us working people. It’s all about corporate greed and it has to stop.”

Hundreds welcome Bernie Sanders in Flint

Both Sanders and Clinton have opposed the most recent trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership. And both candidates have gotten a number of endorsements from different labor unions.

As Sanders was wrapping up his news conference, Clinton’s campaign announced that she will be in Detroit on Friday afternoon, giving a speech on jobs and the economy.

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, is a supporter of Clinton and said that Sanders doesn't have a pristine record when it comes to manufacturing policy.

"On issues vital to manufacturing, like the Export-Import Bank, Senator Sanders was the only Senate Democrat to stand with right-wing Republicans last year to kill a program vital to both our automotive companies and small manufacturers," he said in a statement. "You can’t just come to Michigan a few days before the primary and say manufacturing is a priority when your vote in Washington says something else."

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal. Cincinnati Enquirer Reporter Chrissie Thompson contributed to this report.