Former President Donald Trump endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon on Friday as his choice to take on Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but polls show the GOP challenger faces an uphill battle if he wins the midterm primary in Tuesday.
Dixon was the front-runner in Michigan’s GOP primary for governor, but in a crowded field, the conservative commentator failed to garner even 30 percent support in any of the state’s recent polls. Still, the Republican nominee maintains an average lead of 7 percent over his GOP rivals, according to a Real Clear Politics analysis.
If ultimately elected by Michigan Republicans on Tuesday, Dixon will challenge Whitmer, who is finishing her first term as governor. Recent polls have put the Democrat in a good position to win re-election, but analysts predict the race is likely to be competitive in a state Trump won in 2016 before President Joe Biden won there in 2020.
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon to challenge incumbent Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the November election. Above left is Dixon on July 24th. Top right, Whitmer poses for a photo after an event Jan. 25 in Lansing, Michigan. Tudor Dixon Facebook Page/Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
The latest poll, conducted by Glengariff Group for The Detroit News/WDIV-TV from July 5-8, shows the Democratic incumbent leading Dixon by just over 10 points. Whitmer was supported by 50.7 percent of likely Michigan voters compared to just 40.3 percent who supported Dixon.
That poll also showed that a significant majority (55.3 percent) of Michiganders approve of the job the governor is doing. Only 40.1% said they disapproved of Whitmer. The poll included 600 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
A previous poll conducted in May by Target Insyght for the Michigan Information and Research Service showed Whitmer with a huge lead over Dixon. That poll showed the incumbent governor with the support of 58 percent of registered voters, and the Trump-backed challenger with just 21 percent — a 37 percent lead for the Democrat.
The survey included 600 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.
News and polling site FiveThirtyEight’s 2022 forecast for gubernatorial races currently gives Whitmer a 95-in-100 chance of winning this year’s election. Dixon’s odds are just 5 in 100. The projection projects the incumbent Democrat to win about 54 percent of the vote to the Trump-backed challenger’s roughly 42 percent.
A number of normally pro-Trump Republicans expressed outrage after he dropped his endorsement of Dixon in the Michigan primary. However, the former president described the GOP nominee as a “Conservative warrior” who “will stand up to the radical left as they try to indoctrinate our children and is ready to stand up to one of the worst governors in the nation.”
Trump narrowly won Michigan by a margin of 0.2 percentage points in 2016, winning the support of just 47.5 percent of voters in the state. Previously, Michigan had favored Democrats in every presidential election since 1992. President Joe Biden won the state back for his party in 2020, receiving support from 50.6 percent of voters compared to Trump’s 47.8 percent.
Whitmer won his first gubernatorial election in 2018 by nearly 10 points over his GOP challenger. The Democrat was supported by 53.3 percent of voters in her state, compared to 43.7 percent who voted for the Republican in the race.
Add Comment