Vice Pres. Mike Pence to make stop in Detroit area for John James

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announces the Trump Administration's plan to create the U.S. Space Force by 2020 during a speech at the Pentagon August 9, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Vice President Mike Pence will travel to the Detroit area on Wednesday to help boost John James' bid for U.S. Senate.

Pence will land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Wednesday and thent ravel to West Bloomfield for the private campaign event.

It's not known if Pence will stop by the visitation for Aretha Franklin.

A conservative republican, James is a newcomer to the political landscape. He told FOX 2 earlier this month he wants to be a new voice in the conservative movement, committed to his family faith and community.

“I would say don't pre-judge me. Too many people have died for us to think for ourselves, to vote for ourselves to be independent for me to be judged by the content of my character not by the color of my skin or my political affiliation. I’m republican because I’m conservative not the other way around I’m conservative because I believe in faith, and family and god and country service before self and that is how I was raised,” James said.

James convincingly defeated buyout firm founder Sandy Pensler in the GOP primary and will take on Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow this fall.

James, 37, of Farmington Hills, has been highlighting his business credentials and military service. The West Point graduate flew Apache helicopters in combat and led two platoons during the Iraq War. After being honorably discharged, he joined his father's Detroit-based group of companies: James Group International Inc. He is CEO of Renaissance Global Logistics, which ships supplier parts to auto factories around the world.

James is Michigan's first black Republican nominee for a major statewide office in more than three decades, but he has said he only wants to be assessed on his character.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.