Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is opening five Michigan campaign offices with less than a month before the state’s primary election.

The campaign announced it will open field offices in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint and Detroit this week. The Vermont senator is strengthening his campaign’s presence in Michigan, hiring more staff, organizing volunteers and engaging voters with only three weeks left until the March 10 primary.

Sanders hopes to win Michigan for the second time after pulling off a narrow victory over Hillary Clinton in the state’s 2016 Democratic primary. Sanders himself has been on the ground in several other early-voting states on the heels of his victory in the New Hampshire primary and hasn’t attended a public event in Michigan since October 2019.

The Sanders campaign announced several additions to its Michigan team last week.

The campaign hired Michael Fasullo, who worked on Sanders’ Iowa campaign, to serve as the Michigan state coordinator and tapped Michigan League of Conservation voters Affairs Manager Alia Phillips to serve as its state field director in January. It also added four regional field directors and four field organizers in Michigan.

“With the operation we’re building in Michigan, Bernie Sanders will not only win the primary, but he will also be the only candidate with the energy and enthusiasm to flip this state back and defeat Donald Trump,” Fasullo said in a statement. “We have thousands of volunteers across the state and our staff is tirelessly working to expand this multi-ethnic, multi-generational, people-powered movement.”

Sanders’ Democratic primary opponents are also putting a focus on building their campaign operations in Michigan, particularly former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The billionaire activist hired nearly 100 paid staff and has eight offices across Michigan, with plans to add two more this month.

Sanders’ top-tier performances in Iowa and New Hampshire position him as an emerging Democratic frontrunner, with moderate Democrats split between Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.

Bloomberg is skipping the first four to invest heavily in states that will vote on and after “Super Tuesday” on March 3. Bloomberg visited Michigan twice while the rest of the field campaigned in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The two candidates have become increasingly at odds during Sanders’ rise. They will meet on the debate stage for the first time Wednesday, a few days before the next primary in Nevada.

Former Michigan congressman and 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Schauer said Bloomberg’s investments in Michigan are a “game-changer.” Schauer, who cast his absentee vote for Bloomberg this week, said the former New York mayor has a track record of success in office and will reach disaffected voters who supported President Donald Trump in 2016.

“The Bloomberg campaign is playing chess while a lot of campaigns are playing checkers,” Schauer said.

Bloomberg spent $3 million to support Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in 2014, who beat Schauer and won re-election by 4 percentage points. Schauer said he’s never talked with Bloomberg about the race and has “moved on.”

“I’m supporting the person that not only has a long track record of supporting Democratic values, but gives us the best chance of beating Donald Trump,” Schauer said. “It’s really that simple. I am not looking back, I’m looking forward.”

Sanders has accused Bloomberg of trying to buy his spot in the race by leveraging his vast fortune -- estimated to approach $60 billion -- and is emblematic of a corrupt political system that allows the rich to influence elections. On the campaign trail, Sanders also said Bloomberg can’t assemble the broad support needed to beat Trump in November.

“The simple truth that Mayor Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to have the voter turnout we must have to defeat Donald Trump,” Sanders said at a Feb. 16 event in Nevada.

Bloomberg, a former Republican, criticized Sanders of allowing his most fervent supporters to attack other candidates and hurt the party. Bloomberg purchased ads highlighting the negative “energy” expressed by some of Sanders’ supporters.

Sanders’ campaign hasn’t organized many official events during the last few months, instead leaning on a vast network of Michigan volunteers. Nearly 700 voter engagement events have been held so far, most organized by volunteers.

Door-knocking campaigns, debate watch parties and phone banks scheduled this month focus on communities in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties while also reaching across the state to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lansing, among others.

The Sanders campaign is also holding official volunteer training events to connect potential organizers with campaign staff. February meetups are scheduled in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Holland, East Lansing, Ferndale and the campuses of Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan.

Sanders has kept a focus on union workers, collecting the backing of more union groups than any other 2020 presidential candidate.

The Vermont senator previously joined the picket line with striking United Auto Workers union members in September. The campaign has also dispatched supporters to strikes and protests in Michigan, like a Feb. 14 protest at the Detroit Metro Airport organized by airline catering workers.

Sanders secured endorsements from 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad, and Michigan’s chapter of the Young Democrats of America.

Michiganders have made 175,000 donations to Sanders, according to the campaign, totaling more than $2.8 million. FEC filings show Sanders collected $460,089 in individual contributions from Michigan residents in 2019.

Notable donors include Mark Sellers, who owns the parent company of HopCat, Stella’s Lounge and Grand Rapids Brewing Co.

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