Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told Vice President Kamala Harris' supporters that the Democrat presidential nominee's poll numbers are "underwater" in Michigan, according to an audio recording obtained by Axios.
"I'm not feeling my best right now about where we are on Kamala Harris in a place like Michigan," Slotkin could be heard saying on Wednesday during a virtual campaign event with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. "We have her underwater in our polling."
Michigan is a critical battleground state, and Harris and former President Donald Trump have made winning it a priority due to its potential to propel them to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Both campaigns are working out paths to victory, but Trump would need to capture just one "blue wall" state to secure his victory if he wins the Sun Belt states.
To pave her way to the Oval Office, Harris would need to win the states that President Joe Biden won in 2020, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
While Trump won Michigan in 2016, the state swung blue in 2020.
According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Harris has eked out a razor-thin lead over Trump in the Great Lakes State, 48.9% to 47.5%.
The vice president has a narrow lead on the GOP nominee (48% to 47%) in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, but a recent poll from Atlas Intel shows Trump leading Harris 51% to 47%.
As the November election approaches, the New York Post reported that the Trump campaign has deployed its vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, to barnstorm the Rust Belt states like Michigan.
In 2020, Biden's focus on the union vote helped put him over the top; Trump has heavily courted the labor unions this cycle, so much so that the Teamsters decided against endorsing any candidate for president.
Before to ending his bid for reelection, Michigan became a headache for the Biden campaign, as anti-Israel protesters threatened to vote "uncommitted" over his support for Israel in its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Harris was interrupted by protesters in August, but has been largely left alone on the campaign trail.
The Axios report noted that it's not unusual for campaigns to portray themselves as the underdog when it comes to polling, as the tactic is used for fundraising efforts.