Nancy Quarles, the Democratic party chair for Oakland County in the suburbs of Detroit, is a veteran of many political battles in the swing state of Michigan.

But speaking at her office along the 12 Mile Road in the middle-class town of Southfield, she says there is “something completely new” in what has unfolded since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate just four weeks ago in the election against Donald Trump.

“Our phones are ringing off the hook. The people want signs [for their gardens]. Our director of operations is inundated with people who want to come in and help,” she says. “There’s been this pent-up wanting to do something, but they just didn’t have the impetus.”