Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

Buoyed by tightening polls and large crowds in Grand Rapids and Warren, the Trump campaign swept into Michigan on Monday and promised to make the reliably blue state competitive on election day next week.

"No Republican has won Michigan since like Reagan and I say, I love Michigan and I see numbers and I’m up," Trump told a crowd of several thousand people at Macomb Community College in Warren Monday afternoon, adding his staff tells him that he's even in the polls. "And I get this poll and it says we’re doing well in Michigan. And for all the geniuses who work for me, they said 'You're doing well in Michigan' and I say let's go win it."

►Related:Cher stumps for Hillary Clinton at Michigan State rally

►Earlier Monday: 'Constitutional crisis' if Clinton elected, Trump says in Grand Rapids

Trump was last in Michigan on Sept. 30 for fundraisers in Detroit and Grand Rapids and a rally in Novi. But now Trump's campaign said it expects to see several big-name surrogates -- perhaps members of Trump's family -- coming into the state in the final week, although no details were available of who would travel to Michigan or when.

National and battleground state polls show Trump's path to the White House -- which he was hoping would go through the Industrial Midwest that has lost manufacturing jobs in the last decade -- is a challenge and he may have to depend on traditionally blue states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to be successful on election night. All three states have shown leads for Clinton ranging from 4 to 8 points in recent surveys and Michigan has delivered the vote for Democrats in every presidential cycle since 1992.

Neither campaign has purchased ad time with television stations in the state, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network which tracks campaign spending. But national ad buys during network shows like the Sunday morning news shows and "60 Minutes" have brought commercials into the Michigan market from both campaigns.

Trump's speech in Warren meandered through his platform on things like trade, bolstering the nation's military and rebuilding urban cities. But he offered few specifics about how he would pay for the proposals. And he spent a big chunk of the hour-long speech bashing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the latest controversy to hit the campaign.

FBI director James Comey roiled the race Friday with an announcement that the bureau would be looking at more e-mails discovered on a computer seized from former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin, in connection with the case of Weiner sexting an underage teenager.

Trump said the investigation could trigger a "constitutional crisis" that will harm the country for years.

"The investigation will last for years, nothing will get done. Government will grind to a halt and our country will continue to suffer," Trump said. "Hillary's corruption is a threat to democracy and the only way to stop is for you to show up at the polls on Nov. 8 and vote."

The visits -- Trump's sixth since the Republican National Convention in July -- come as polls in Michigan show a tightening race. Clinton’s 11-point lead in early October has shrunk to seven points, according to a poll done for the Free Press by EPIC/MRA last weekend. Clinton was last in Michigan on Oct. 10, speaking at a rally at Wayne State University. Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine attended rallies in Taylor and Warren Sunday.

Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller told WABC-radio last week that the races in Michigan and New Mexico, traditionally solidly blue states in presidential elections, were in a dead heat, despite polls that showed Clinton with a comfortable lead in both states.

Ron Gordon, a retired Detroit Public School teacher from Oxford who now owns a remodeling business, said he's picking the lesser of two evils, but hopes that American voters will get information from the FBI investigation into the new e-mails before Nov. 8.

"He is experienced in business and will get things done. I'm a supporter of the person who I think will do the best job. And I've watched Hillary over the years and seen things that have gone totally against the grain," he said, citing the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi while Clinton was secretary of state. "I know that Trump has some dirt in his background, but I'm looking at the lesser of two evils basically."

Glenn Kolman, 45, and his daughter Dorothy Kolman, 17, came to the rally from Fraser dressed as "Zombies for Trump," and hoping to hear a message that would provide some answers and hope about job loss in the United States. Kolman lost his job in the dental industry when the company he worked for moved overseas and shut Michigan offices.

"We need to bring jobs back to this country," Dorothy Koman said. "When his old dental business went overseas, it was really devastating for us. We had to declare bankruptcy and we had to leave my house and I didn't want to leave."

Glenn Kolman now works as a nursing home assistant.

But Trump, who pounded on companies like Ford Motor Co., Steelcase and Carrier Air Conditioners for closing plants in the United States and moving jobs to other countries, said he's the only one who can bring jobs back to America.

"When we close the chapter on the Clintons, we can open a bright new chapter focused on the American people," he said. "My contract with the American people starts with a plan to restore honesty and accountability to government."

Democrats said every time Trump comes to Michigan, their case gets stronger.

"We always knew they were going to throw a lot of obstacles in our way. But every time Donald Trump comes to Michigan it’s a reminder of how important this election is," said Brandon Dillon, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, noting the FBI controversy has actually helped the party's efforts. "The one thing it has done, it’s reminding Democrats that we can’t take this election for granted."

Contact Kathleen Gray: kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal