• The race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is over as Michigan votes continue to be counted
• Michigan has 15 Electoral College votes, is a key state and is part of the Democrats’ “blue wall”
• Top issues in the race included the direction of Michigan’s auto industry, the economy, abortion rights and immigration

LANSING – Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were locked in a tight race Tuesday night, with the former president taking a narrow lead as vote counting continued across the state.

Partial results of the presidential race showed Trump improving on his 2020 performance across the state, which he lost by more than 154,000 votes four years ago, particularly in more rural areas such as Eaton counties and Ionia.

In Oakland County, a vote-rich area where Democrats were expected to do well, Harris led early returns — but not by as wide a margin as Joe Biden in 2020.

Trump made some small gains in black-majority communities, including Detroit, a Democratic stronghold where he got 8 percent of the vote in partial returns, up from 5 percent four years ago. It was at 21 percent in Pontiac, up from 18 percent.

He made more significant gains in some communities with large Arab American populations. Trump narrowly lost Hamtramck, but led partial returns in Dearborn. Those results could change, however, once the postal ballots are counted.

Millions of additional votes were to be counted in Michigan, a crucial battleground state, including in Democratic strongholds like Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Ann Arbor. Wayne County, which includes Detroit, has been particularly slow to report results.

Election officials in the state were able to process absentee ballots and tabulate them before Election Day, allowing for a faster count of mail-in ballots that Democrats have embraced in greater numbers than Republicans in recent elections.

However, it remained too early to say which presidential candidate will win the state. Trump appeared to be in strong shape nationally, with Harris having to hold on to Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Check out the latest Michigan results below: