Al_Franken_Feb2016.jpg

Al Franken attends the 68th Annual Writers Guild Awards at the Edison Ballroom on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in New York.

(Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, is planning to campaign for Hillary Clinton in Michigan on Friday ahead of the March 8 primary.

The comedian-turned-politician who rose to fame as a writer and performer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" will visit phone-bank volunteers in Ann Arbor, attend a women-to-women organizing meeting in Royal Oak, and speak at a rally organized by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters in Warren.

"Hillary Clinton is the smartest, hardest-working, toughest, most-experienced person I know," Franken said in a statement released Thursday night.

"She's standing up for middle-class families on the issues that matter to them, and she has a real plan to raise wages, boost the manufacturing sector, strengthen health care, and make college affordable for everyone."

Franken plans to meet with Clinton supporters at Arbor Brewing Co. in downtown Ann Arbor at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by a 2:45 p.m. stop at Bean and Leaf in Royal Oak, and then a 3:30 p.m. rally at 23401 Mound Road in Warren.

Clinton is ahead in the Democratic race with 597 delegates so far compared to Bernie Sanders' 406.

Sanders is scheduled to take part in a town hall at the Gem Theatre in Detroit on Monday. Clinton and Sanders will debate in Flint on Sunday.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.