The billboard along M-115 — a two-lane highway that runs through forests and farmland from Clare to Cadillac, ending in Frankfort — is the first sign of many that northern Michigan is Trump country.

A larger-than-life image of President Donald Trump, flashing a smile and a thumb’s up, greets drivers: “Making America Great! We Love Our President,” the billboard proclaims.

Turn back to the 2016 presidential election map and the theme becomes even more stark, with all but one of Michigan's 43 northern counties colored a deep red, signaling part of the path that Trump used to win Michigan by the slimmest of margins —10,704 votes out of 4,799,284 cast. It was the first time that Michiganders had given a Republican the presidential win since 1988.

But two years later, something else is happening in northern Michigan as the Nov. 6 election looms. Transplants from southeast Michigan and Chicago, who choose to retire to the place where they spent so many vacations, are transforming the demographics of the region into a place where Democrats are hoping to make some inroads into typically Republican territory.

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Those transplants are connecting with like-minded Democrats who have lived in the region for decades, but may have been reluctant to speak out too loudly in the otherwise conservative environment.

"I've always felt in the minority up here with my progressive views," said Cindy Garwood, 60, who has lived along Lake Michigan for 30 years and is joining in weekly protests in Elk Rapids. "Now, there are more people I’m meeting with on a regular basis. Without that group, would I be standing on the side of the highway protesting every week? Probably not."

Others have formed Indivisible groups — the progressive activists that started forming after Trump won the presidency — throughout the region to organize protests and help Democratic candidates.

It's also a place where Michael Moore's unabashedly liberal documentary — "Fahrenheit 11/9" — about the 2016 election attracts a respectable crowd on a rainy Tuesday night at the State Theater in downtown Traverse City.

The progressive marches, protests and acts of resistance commonplace in many parts of Michigan, including metro Detroit, since early 2017, are blooming in northern Michigan.

And candidates, political parties and campaigns are taking notice — in a place where controversial rocker Ted Nugent recently drew a big crowd for a fundraiser for Bill Schuette, the Republican candidate for governor.

Joyce Brodsky, an artist and a retired teacher from West Bloomfield, realized her retirement dream when she moved to the shores of Lake Michigan in Kewadin in 2016. But she quickly discovered that her new hometown wasn’t as hospitable as she had imagined.

“When I moved up here two years ago and the election was going on, I noticed all those very large Trump signs going up and it took me aback — made me wonder, ‘Where did I move?' ” she said. “I started talking to people and they told me this is a very Republican area. I came from Oakland County, a very diverse community and it’s not so much up here.”

Trying to assimilate into the community, she joined a book club and an artists group, but she longed for the more liberal political conversations that were so routine downstate. She learned of a group of Democratic women who had been meeting every Wednesday morning for the last 10 years at Java Jones, the local coffee shop in the middle of the small but picturesque town of Elk Rapids, which is bookended by Lake Michigan on one side and U.S. 31 on the other.

And despite never having participated in partisan politics since youthful marches against the Vietnam War in the 1960s, she was hooked.

“I never ran for student council. I never felt that politics would change my life. I was a teacher. I voted the way my union directed and I was happy with my health care plan and the way education was going,” she said. “But these women were bubbly and exuberant and articulate.”

For many of the women, the Wednesday morning commiserations evolved into a journey to Washington for the Women’s March in January 2017 and frequent trips to Traverse City, 17 miles south, to join an Indivisible group for protests on everything from attacks on Obamacare to separation of immigrant families at the Southern border.

But as the August primary election approached, the coffee group decided that a weekly organized protest in Elk Rapids, alongside U.S. 31, the main thoroughfare that runs along Lake Michigan from the southern border of the state to Mackinaw City, would have more of an impact.

“We were going to Traverse City at least once or twice a month for calls to action,” said Veronica Welter, chairwoman of the Antrim County Democratic Party. “We thought, let’s see if we can do a demonstration in this part of town and we started out with about 10 people.”

Bearing signs of protest on everything from the need for affordable health care to shutting down Line 5, an oil pipeline owned by Canadian giant Enbridge that runs under the Straits of Mackinac, to advocating for Democratic candidates, the group gathers along U.S. 31 every Monday from 4 to 5 p.m. to make its sentiments known.

It’s mostly women, many retired, but on a recent Monday evening, more than 30 people, including a half dozen men, stood silently alongside the highway with signs held aloft. The numbers swell to 45 or 50 on some days, Welter said, because they feel they don’t have a choice.

“We thought Hillary was going to win, even though we knew she wasn’t going to win up here,” Welter said. “And now they tell me they have to get involved because we can’t allow this to continue.”

Donna Klinefelter, 75, of Kewadin wore black to the protest, which happened days before Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before Congress during the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, to show solidarity with other women who were telling stories of sexual assault and harassment.

“We’re most of all concerned that we’re losing our democracy,” she said. “And the example of the judgeship and lack of interest in finding out the real facts by the Republicans really scares a lot of us.”

Her husband, Jerry Klinefelter, often accompanies her to the protests and carries a sign that says: “Respect Women.”

The response to the weekly protests has been mixed. Dozens of cars offer supportive honks and a thumbs-up. But there are more than a few middle fingers and invective hurled at the protesters and one man shouted “F--- all women” when he saw Klinefelter’s sign.

“We’re getting more positive honks than we did initially,” he said. “We’re hoping to just make people think about it and to think enough to come our way a little bit.”

John Tschudy, an ardent liberal and retired dentist who is donating his old office space to the Antrim County Democrats, doesn't think the region is ready for a wholesale transformation.

"My brother who lives up here is much more active as a canvasser for Democrats than I am and he's had people come to the door with baseball bats in their hands," he said. "There are people who don’t want to hear you, they don’t even want you to open their mouth."

Small things

But there are some signs that change is happening.

Consider Matt Morgan, the Traverse City Democrat who is challenging U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, in the 1st Congressional District. After his petitions to run for office were thrown out over a technical error, he was forced to run a write-in campaign for the Aug. 7 primary. In order to qualify for the Nov. 6 general election ballot, he needed to get 3,800 write-in votes in the primary election.

He got more than 29,000 valid votes.

“We knew we would get the votes we needed to get on the ballot, but we expected 4,000, maybe 5,000 at the most and that would have been historic,” Morgan said on a recent sunny Sunday afternoon before heading out to talk to voters in their Traverse City homes. “The grassroots really multiplied that. We probably had 40,000 people come out and write us in. We know there were people who wrote us in under the races for Senate or governor. ... For one reason or another, they didn’t do it right and their votes didn’t count.”

The former Marine, who came back from two tours in Iraq to become a consultant to the film and television industry, is making some noise in the congressional district, which has flipped back and forth between Republicans and Democrats over the last few decades.

Encompassing all of the Upper Peninsula and a large swath of northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula, the district is known for tourism along the shores of Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior; its timber and mining industries in the Upper Peninsula and a thriving agriculture industry. It has everything from the upscale resort towns of Traverse City, Charlevoix, Petoskey and Harbor Springs, to major universities in Marquette and Houghton, as well as vineyards and fruit farms that thrive on the crisp Great Lakes air.

But the region also has challenges. All but one of the 43 counties — Leelanau — have double-digit poverty rates, according to the U.S. Census. And the unemployment rate in all but three of the region’s counties exceeds the state’s overall rate of 4.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So when Morgan headed to a mobile home park in Traverse City, he heard about soaring health care costs and disinvestment in education.

“Health care is big definitely, especially since it’s gone up so much. I have a full-time job and I still can’t afford to go to the doctor because you’ve got to pay deductibles,” Buffy Berry, who works for the Pepsi distribution facility in Traverse City, told Morgan. “I always vote, but I’m an independent. It just depends on the issues.”

Like many of the doors in Traverse City that night, Berry didn’t reveal her choices for the upcoming election. Likewise, Carrie Dunham, 57, told Morgan she usually votes Republican but said she still had to do some research before making up her mind.

“I generally vote Republican, but I’m sort of half and half. I can’t say that out loud,” she said, whispering as her ardent Republican husband flipped burgers on a nearby grill. “I do like our president. I don’t like him personally, but I like what he’s done so far.”

Nancy Landers, 65, has no hesitation on her preferences, standing in a yard strewn with Democratic candidate campaign signs. Holding a glass of red wine in one hand and her Shih Tzu-Chihuahua mix Rosie in the other, she talked of the apathy of the young people she encounters in her work as a massage therapist in a Traverse City salon.

“Young people tell me there’s no use in voting. It won’t make a difference,” she said,adding she worries about having to work until she's well beyond 70 in order to afford the daily necessities of life and health care. “I tell them if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. I’m 65 and I haven’t missed voting ever.”

As of mid-July, Morgan had raised nearly $800,000, and is airing television ads across the district, including one where he says he won’t support U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, as the leader of the Democrats in the House, because he believes the party needs a fresh face and message in Congress. He has blanketed the district with signs, and has recruited an army of volunteers, including more than 30 who showed up that Sunday to help canvass neighborhoods, fill out post cards and work phone banks for the campaign.

He says he’s not pushing his Democratic designation because he believes voters are more interested in message than party. And in this district, where things like hunting and gun rights are key for many voters, it’s probably wise to toe a more independent line.

“If you ask me to write down 100 words that characterized me, Democrat would not be in the top 100,” he said. “We have Democratic voters up here and that’s been one of my bigger frustrations. We’ve turned our backs on a lot of Democratic voters, the blue-collar voters, the timberman, the steel workers, the people who used to be straight Democratic voters, have been left behind.”

Nothing for granted

Bergman and the Republicans,are not taking northern Michigan votes for granted. But Bergman has an edge. He got more than 83,000 votes in the primary and is fielding his own volunteer force to make sure those voters, and more, turn out in November.

“It’s hard to say how many volunteers we’ve got,” said campaign manager Kevin Tataylian. “In the 1st District, we could have 100 people making phone calls. Congressman Bergman was here on Saturday and we had a big crowd. We saw (Morgan’s) numbers, so we’re just continuing to spread our message and making sure that those 80,000 people who voted in the primary come out and vote again and we’re working on getting independent voters too.”

And Sandy Call, an activist who showed up at GOP headquarters in Traverse City to help work on multiple campaigns, said even though Democrats turned out in greater numbers in August, the same won’t be true in November.

“There is a silent majority out there who are not speaking up and we don’t know about them,” she said. “They don’t typically vote in the primary, but they’ll be there in November and the big wave will be for Republicans.”

Still, state Rep. Larry Inman, R-Williamsburg, sees the warning signs for Republicans in the changing demographics of the region. He’s in a tight re-election race with Traverse City lawyer Dan O’Neil, who, in a district that typically doesn’t see 5,000 Democratic votes in primary elections, got 11,678, just 91 shy of Inman.

“I keep warning the local and state GOP about the changing demographics up here,” he said. “I don’t see any reason why I can’t win this seat this year, but the next time this seat opens up, if Grand Traverse County continues to narrow because of the influx of people from southeast Michigan and Chicago retiring up here, it’s going to be a much closer race than it ever has been in the past. In six years, it will be a 50-50 district, definitely.”

Inman doesn’t have the influx of volunteers that he had in 2016 when Trump supporters flooded GOP headquarters throughout northern Michigan to help propel Trump’s victory. This year, he said he has a consistent stable of 10 volunteers who help him knock on doors throughout the district. And the Michigan Republican Party has buttressed efforts in the region with offices in Traverse City and Marquette as well as a list of 200 volunteers.

But O’Neil said his volunteer list stands at 500 and his signs are prevalent on yards throughout the district.

“It’s been tough for Democrats to be successful in Grand Traverse County. But we’ve been performing better and better and better,” he said. “Traverse City is becoming more urban and suburban and reflecting those types of values. There is a tremendous amount of energy in terms of people wanting change.”

Count Brodsky in that category.

From passive retiree in early 2016, she has transformed into an activist who regularly protests and canvasses for Democratic candidates, proudly wears her hand-knitted pink pussy hat, made famous during the 2017 Women's March, and is planning to join other protesters and hit the streets if and when Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice. She has also become a candidate herself.

“They got me on the ballot this year to run for precinct delegate,” she said. “And I won, but what my job is now, I’m not quite sure. I’m still learning.”

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal