LANSING, MI -- Michigan's presidential vote has been true blue since 1992, but Republicans are hoping that Republican nominee Donald Trump can sway that in November.

"I'm on the ground all the time traveling the state and every day I run into voters who are so enthusiastic about Donald Trump, who have never voted Republican, who are changing parties just for him," said Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel.

A polling average from Real Clear Politics shows Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's lead narrowing as the race progresses. In a head-to-head Clinton is leading by an average of 4.6 points. But as recently as late July and early August, polls routinely put her ahead by 10 percent.

And Trump is trying his hardest to narrow that gap even further. He's put a repeated emphasis on Michigan, and makes his fifth visit to Michigan since accepting the nomination on Friday.

But Democrats aren't taking the state for granted, said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon. After all, the state has gone red in recent state elections.

"Michigan has voted for Republicans in years where Democratic turnout in those off-years is not where it needs to be. And we recognize that in order to win we need to make sure that Democrats get out and vote," Dillon said.

Both presidential candidates are upping their ground games and opening offices across the state. Both have visited since their nominations, with Clinton coming once to Trump's five visits.

Both vice presidential candidates and surrogates for both campaigns have also come to the state.

Trump is more visible than previous Republican contenders like John McCain or Mitt Romney, who Romney McDaniel said stopped coming after their nominations. Trump is a candidate many have called unconventional, and it's unconventional of any Republican presidential candidate to take a serious swipe at Michigan.

"It's a slightly Democrat-leaning state normally and in presidential years it's even more Democrat-leaning," said said Tom Shields, president of Marketing Resource Group.

But Michigan is sort of swingy.

"I think Michigan is typically a second-tier swing state and I'm not really seeing any evidence that that's changed this year," said Susan Demas, publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.

She said that with some of the higher-tier swing states trending against him, Trump is focusing on Michigan.

Demographically, Michigan does have some characteristics that look positive for Trump. National polls show he does well with older, white voters. Michigan is 78 percent white and has 2.5 million people who are age 65 and older.

But Demas, through looking at internal and external polling, still thinks Clinton is leading by between four and six points in Michigan.

To win Michigan, said Shields, a Republican has to convert independent voters. Trump has had some success there, Shields said, but is struggling with the Republican base.

A Sept. 27 Mitchell Research & Communications poll of 1,956 likely voters for FOX 2 showed Clinton getting 92.7 percent of the Democratic vote in a race against Trump. Trump polled 89.2 percent of the Republican vote. Clinton won out among voters who weren't affiliated with either party in that poll, and lead Trump by 5 percent with a +/-2.2 percent margin of error.

Shields sees similarities between Trump's campaign in Michigan now and former President Ronald Reagan's, who won Michigan in 1980 by converting Democrats, many of whom were in Macomb County. The candidates aren't the same, he said, but Trump too is making a play for disaffected blue collar voters in Macomb County.

Shields said as long as the race in Michigan is within five points or so, and other states he could pick off don't present a more winnable path, Trump's focus on Michigan will likely continue.

"As long as he keeps coming here the excitement's going to continue until he believes that either he's going to win another state... or he believes that Michigan is not winnable," Shields said.

Trump will hold a public rally in Novi Friday night, his first in Michigan since his Aug. 19 rally in Dimondale. His more recent visits have been to private events.