Race for US Senate shows six-point spread
LANSING, Mich. – Vying for a second-term, only 19 percent of voters believe Gary Peters deserves to be re-elected to the US Senate, according to a recent poll conducted by Marketing Resource Group, LLC. Over 30 percent of voters polled believe it is time for someone new to be elected and 51 percent were unsure.
In the same poll of 600 likely voters, results showed the Democrat Senator with 36 percent support compared to his Republican rival, John James, who has 30 percent support. Looking at those who strongly support their candidate, Peters and James were virtually tied at 28 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Results show 18 percent of voters are still undecided in the race.
These results are similar to the Michigan Poll® MRG conducted in March which showed a seven-point spread between the two candidates with Gary Peters having 42 percent compared to 35 percent who support John James.
“After a six-year term, and with less than five months to go before the general election, Gary Peters has yet to convince voters why he deserves a second term,” said Jenell Leonard, owner of MRG, LLC. “This despite being on television for several months now. John James has a serious shot picking up a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan for Republicans for the first time in over 25 years.”
Peters strongest support comes from the City of Detroit and Mid-Michigan and those aged 65 and older while James’ strongest support comes from Northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula and those between the ages of 50 and 64.
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The Questions and Results
The results and the wording of the questions asked by MRG follow:
Q. In your opinion, do you believe Gary Peters deserves to be re-elected to the U.S. Senate or is it time for someone new?
Yes, he does……………………………………………. 19.2%
No, it’s time for someone new……………………. 30.3%
Unsure……………………………………………………. 50.5%
Q. If the election for U.S. Senate were held today, would you vote for [ROTATE] (John James the Republican), (Gary Peters the Democrat), or for someone else?
Vote John James………………………………………. 26.8%
Lean John James………………………………………… 3.5%
Vote Gary Peters……………………………………… 28.2%
Lean Gary Peters……………………………………….. 8.2%
Vote someone else………………………………………. 11%
Lean someone else……………………………………… 2.7%
Won’t Vote……………………………………………….. 1.5%
Undecided/Don’t Know……………………………. 18.2%
MRG, LLC POLL SUMMARY
The +6% Dem survey of 600 likely Michigan voters was conducted by live interview June 12 – June 15, 2020. The sample was randomly drawn from a listed sample of all registered voters with a history of voting and stratified by city and township to reflect voter turnout. Thirty percent of the sample was conducted with cell phone users. In addition, quotas for gender and cell phone interviews were met within each geographic area, and extra efforts were made to reach African Americans.
A sample of 600 likely voters in Michigan yields a sampling margin of error of ±4 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The sampling margin of error for subgroups may be higher depending on the size of the subgroup.
About Marketing Resource Group
Lansing, Michigan-based Marketing Resource Group (www.mrgmi.com) is an award-winning PR firm representing corporate, association, nonprofit, and private clients with interests in Michigan. MRG offers expertise in public affairs, communications, political campaign management, and public opinion survey research. MRG is the only Michigan public opinion survey research firm that maintains nearly 40 years of trend analyses of voter attitudes related to state and national leaders, political parties, and the political and economic climate in Michigan.
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