WASHINGTON – The Bern is returning to Michigan.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who shocked the nation in 2016 by winning the Michigan Democratic presidential primary despite eventual nominee Hillary Clinton’s double-digit lead in several polls in the state, is headed to Warren on Saturday for a 5 p.m. rally at Macomb Community College.

The outdoor event is free and open to the public, though people wanting to attend are encouraged to register at https://act.berniesanders.com/signup/event-190413_warren/.

It is part of a three-day swing through states credited with giving Donald Trump the presidency in 2016: On Friday, Sanders will be in Madison, Wisconsin, and, on Sunday, in Pittsburgh. In Michigan, Sanders is headed to the heart of Macomb County,the biggest county in the state to flip from supporting Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections to backing Trump in 2016.

The campaign also expects to make stops in Indiana and Ohio as part of the swing. In a statement, the campaign said the tour “will emphasize that Democrats’ clearest and strongest path to victory in 2020 runs through the Upper Midwest” and that Sanders’ message will focus on unfair trade deals, strengthening union protections and “guaranteeing health care as a right to all with Medicare for All.”

Sanders returns to the state considered one of the front-runners for the Democratic presidential nomination next year.

Most polls of Democratic voters nationally have him in second place or tied with former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to formally announce a campaign. A poll done by Emerson College in Massachusetts this month showed Biden leading the Democratic pack in Michigan with 40% of the support with Sanders in second place with 23% and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California in third with 12%. That poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.

Sanders also drew thousands of people at a rally in January 2017 at Macomb Community College before Trump’s inauguration at which Sanders called on supporters to protect the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, from Republicans threatening to repeal it. Obamacare has remained in place and health care coverage was one of the key issues Democrats won on in last year’s midterm elections.

Sanders is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and has been an independent caucusing with Democrats during his years in the Senate. But having been the runner-up for the Democratic nomination in 2016, Sanders has signed a pledge to join the party and run as a Democrat in 2020.

Read more:

How Bernie Sanders won Michigan

More bad news for President Donald Trump in latest Michigan poll

Contact Todd Spangler:tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. Read more onMichigan politics and sign up for ourelections newsletter.