Poll: Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer Holds Sizable Lead over All Republican Opponents

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is on track for reelection regardless of which Republican opponent she ends up facing in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by the Glengariff Group on behalf of the Detroit News and local outlet WDIV, found Whitmer with anywhere from a nine- to 15-point lead over five different possible opponents.

Whitmer’s top three strongest challengers, according to the poll, are real estate broker Ryan Kelley, conservative media personality Tudor Dixon, and businessman Kevin Rinke. They trail Whitmer by nine points, 11 points, and 12 points, respectively.

The poll, taken July 5 through July 8, is the second to show Whitmer in such a strong position following the State Board of Canvassers in May disqualifying half the Republican gubernatorial primary field, including frontrunner former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, for submitting invalid nomination petitions.

This latest poll indicates none of the remaining Republicans have been able to emerge as the candidate to beat so far, as none of them reached 50 percent name recognition.

Kelley, the candidate to come closest to Whitmer in the poll, appears to be the most well-known, garnering 49.8 percent name identification.

In a separate poll of the Republican primary field, taken July 7 through July 8 by Mitchell Research and MIRS, Dixon led Kelly by 11 points, 26 percent to 15 percent, while 33 percent said they were undecided.

Craig, for his part, has not given up despite being disqualified and is now running his own write-in campaign.

The Glengariff poll also showed promising prospects for two of Whitmer’s administrative allies up for reelection, Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D). Both were ahead in their races, but by smaller, single-digit margins.

The Michigan primary takes place in just over two weeks, on August 2.

The poll was conducted among 600 likely general election voters by live telephone calls and had a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.