Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters holds a small lead over Republican challenger John James in the Michigan race, according to a new statewide poll, but they are in a virtually statistical dead heat in a race where the candidates have raised a combined $17.3 million.
Peters, who is finishing his first term, is ahead of James 44% to 40% in a Glengariff Group poll of 600 likely Michigan voters that was provided to The Detroit News. About 16% of voters are undecided in a race that is expected to receive national attention since Peters is one of two senators running in states that President Donald Trump won in 2016.
The close race is “fairly typical for a first-term senator running for re-election,” said Richard Czuba, pollster and founder of Lansing-based Glengariff Group.
“It’s always the most difficult re-election that a U.S. senator tends to get,” Czuba said. “This is not unexpected.”
Glengariff’s poll marks the first survey taken this year in the contest.
Incredible Video: Heroic Dad Fights Off Gang of Carjackers While Protecting Daughter, Shoots 1 Dead
Knicks Tricked Employees with Fake Championship Ring-Fitting Message, Forced Clickers Into Cybersecurity Courses
Democrats Screech About ICE Injuring a US Citizen – Then Video of the Start of the Conflict Emerges
WATCH: Mamdani Teaches Illegals How to Avoid Capture and Evade ICE in New Spanish-Language Video
Tyler Robinson hearing ends without trial date set, prompting fiery plea from Erika Kirk’s lawyer
Seven Christians Killed, Dozens More Wounded in ‘Heinous’ Attack on Church in Jordan
GOP Congressman Set to Initiate Expulsion Process for ‘Ilhan Omar’ Based on DOJ Findings
Ilhan Omar doubles down on ‘real name’ when confronted at Mall of Somalia
Ilhan Omar calls Trump ‘creep’ as president revives ‘fake name,’ marriage allegations
Meghan Markle’s Statement Triggers Internal Police Investigation Amid ‘Disturbing Allegations’ Against Her Father
Watch: Kamala Harris Turns Back the Clock to 2024, Confuses Crowd with Jumbled Motivational Quote That She Has to Repeat
‘Can’t trust Amy Acton’: Viral ad distracts from what’s really at stake in critical race, GOP strategist says
Federal judge kicked off ‘botch job’ anti-DEI case after stunning appeals court rebuke
Trump says judge is ‘desecrating’ Charlie Kirk’s memory amid fight over assassination trial date
Treasury traces SPLC to debanking of Christians after group dismissed it as conspiracy
James, the Farmington Hills businessman and combat veteran, is making his second bid for the Senate after losing by a smaller-than-expected 6.5 percentage points to U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing, a longtime Democratic incumbent.
Peters of Bloomfield Township has raised $9.3 million since the beginning of last year compared with nearly $8 million for James, who out-raised Peters $3.5 million to $2.5 million in the last quarter of 2019.
Czuba said both candidates have relatively low name identification — Peters is at 70% compared with James’ 59% — but “there’s a lot of room to grow for both of them.”
Peters first won his seat in the U.S. Senate in 2014 with 54% of the vote, defeating Republican former Secretary of State Terry Lynn Land. In that GOP wave election when Republicans seized control of the Senate, Peters was the only non-incumbent Democratic to emerge victorious.
“Sen. Peters is focused on his work in the Senate delivering for Michigan, expanding job training, securing a record funding increase for the Great Lakes, and working to bring down health care and prescription drug costs,” said Dan Farough, Peters’ campaign manager. “He will run and win on his strong record of fighting for middle class families and working across party lines to get results.”
Incredible Video: Heroic Dad Fights Off Gang of Carjackers While Protecting Daughter, Shoots 1 Dead
Knicks Tricked Employees with Fake Championship Ring-Fitting Message, Forced Clickers Into Cybersecurity Courses
Democrats Screech About ICE Injuring a US Citizen – Then Video of the Start of the Conflict Emerges
WATCH: Mamdani Teaches Illegals How to Avoid Capture and Evade ICE in New Spanish-Language Video
Tyler Robinson hearing ends without trial date set, prompting fiery plea from Erika Kirk’s lawyer
Seven Christians Killed, Dozens More Wounded in ‘Heinous’ Attack on Church in Jordan
GOP Congressman Set to Initiate Expulsion Process for ‘Ilhan Omar’ Based on DOJ Findings
Ilhan Omar doubles down on ‘real name’ when confronted at Mall of Somalia
Ilhan Omar calls Trump ‘creep’ as president revives ‘fake name,’ marriage allegations
Meghan Markle’s Statement Triggers Internal Police Investigation Amid ‘Disturbing Allegations’ Against Her Father
Watch: Kamala Harris Turns Back the Clock to 2024, Confuses Crowd with Jumbled Motivational Quote That She Has to Repeat
‘Can’t trust Amy Acton’: Viral ad distracts from what’s really at stake in critical race, GOP strategist says
Federal judge kicked off ‘botch job’ anti-DEI case after stunning appeals court rebuke
Trump says judge is ‘desecrating’ Charlie Kirk’s memory amid fight over assassination trial date
Treasury traces SPLC to debanking of Christians after group dismissed it as conspiracy
The early poll results are terrific for James, said Stu Sandler, a longtime GOP consultant who worked on James’ 2018 campaign and is involved with this one too.
“It’s a statistical dead heat, and John is performing strong and he’s doing well,” Sandler said. “Voters are responding to him. We’re not surprised by these numbers. We feel good about them. But we’ve got a long way to go.”
Trump, whom James heartily embraced in his race against Stabenow, may play a role in the Senate race since he has a low favorability rating in Michigan, where Democrats have the voting registration advantage and are motivated to vote, Czuba said.
“The bottom line is this race is going to be caught in the national current,” he said. “Whatever happens nationally or plays out in Michigan, is going to reflected in this U.S. Senate race. In 2020, we continue to look at a historic motivation to vote which means a lot of voters are turning out. And big turnout helps Democrats.”
Story cited here.
