Poll: Whitmer still ahead in governor's race

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Democrat Gretchen Whitmer continues to lead in the race for the Michigan governor's office, a new poll shows.

The poll from EPIC-MRA, which was commissioned by WOOD TV8 and released Thursday, showed 45 percent of respondents said they would vote for Whitmer, a former state senator. Thirty-seven percent said they would vote for Republican Bill Schuette, currently the state's attorney general.

That is slightly closer than the numbers from an early September poll by the Glengariff Group.

Bill Gelineau, the Libertarian candidate, had 2 percent of the vote. Five percent said they would vote for another candidate and 11 percent said they were undecided.

>>PDF: Full poll results

On Oct. 12, Schuette and Whitmer will be at WOOD TV8's studio for a live televised debate. The election is Nov. 6. Current Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, cannot run again due to term limits.

OTHER STATE OFFICES

The poll showed the Democrats running for Michigan secretary of state and Michigan attorney general are also leading.

In the secretary of state race, Democrat Jocelyn Benson is nine percentage points ahead of Republican Mary Treder Lang. Benson is 37 percentage points ahead of Libertarian Gregory Stemple.

In 2010, Benson lost to current Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. Like Snyder, Johnson is being term-limited out.

The Democrats' attorney general candidate Dana Nessel, a former prosecutor from the Detroit area, is leading current Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, the Republican. Thirty-eight percent of people polled said they would vote for Nessel, while 32 percent picked Leonard. Five percent said they would vote for Libertarian Lisa Lane Gioia.

CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENCY

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat and the state's senior senator, is enjoying a comfortable lead over her Republican opponent, the poll showed. Fifty-six percent of people polled said they would vote for Stabenow, while 33 percent said they would vote for Republican John James.

Asked broadly about the congressional elections, 52 percent of voters said they would like to see Democrats take control to check President Donald Trump. Forty percent said they wanted Republicans to maintain control to support Trump.

Fifty-nine percent of people polled gave Trump a negative job rating. Thirty-nine gave him a positive rating. Two percent were undecided.

THE POLL

EPIC-MRA surveyed 600 people by phone between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25 to gather its data.

Forty-five percent of respondents identified themselves as Democrats, 40 percent as Republicans, 12 percent as Independents and 3 percent were undecided.

The poll as a plus-or-minus 4 percent margin of error.