Lansing — A statewide poll released Tuesday by the Detroit Regional Chamber showed Democrat Jocelyn Benson in the lead of the race to be Michigan’s next governor and independent Mike Duggan losing ground on the major party candidates.
Twenty-five weeks ahead of the November general election, the Detroit business organization, which has already endorsed Duggan, commissioned a survey of 600 likely Michigan voters who were asked questions over the phone from April 28 through May 1.
In response to one potential three-way matchup, about 34% of voters surveyed said they supported Benson, the current secretary of state from Detroit, 29% said they backed Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, and 23% said they preferred Duggan, the former mayor of Detroit who’s running as an independent. About 14% were undecided.
The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The new numbers represented a stark shift from a similar poll from the Detroit Regional Chamber in late January and early February. That survey showed the three same candidates in a dead heat with Duggan at 30%, James at 29% and Benson at 28%.
Amid war in Iran and rising gas prices, the election is increasingly becoming a referendum on Republican President Donald Trump, said pollster Richard Czuba, whose firm, the Glengariff Group, conducted both polls for the Detroit Regional Chamber.
“Those Democrats are now consolidating and voting in one single bloc,” Czuba said of Benson’s strengthening support.
The Detroit Regional Chamber released the new poll two weeks ahead of its annual Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, where it’s planning to give Duggan his own stage time to woo the state’s business, education and philanthropic leaders.
A spokeswoman for Duggan’s campaign didn’t immediately comment on the survey results but indicated the former mayor would be available to speak with the media later Tuesday.
A nonprofit group backing Duggan has spent millions of dollars on TV advertising since he launched his bid and broke from the Democratic Party in December 2024.
At the time, Duggan said, “The current system forces people to choose sides and not find solutions. I’m going to see if I can change that.”
The new numbers could also be cause for alarm among Michigan Republicans because 57% of participants said they disapproved of the job Trump has been doing as president. Further, 48% said they strongly disapproved.
As for those who approved of the president’s job performance, that number was at 37%.
Likewise, Duggan took more Republican-leaning support in the new survey than he did Democratic-leaning support. Duggan got about 24% of the Republican voters but only 16% of Democratic voters, according to the survey’s results.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: New poll finds big shift in Michigan governor’s race
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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