Public Policy Pollingreleased a poll today that shows Gov. Rick Snyder leading his Democratic challenger Mark Schauer 43% to 42%. With a margin of error of +/- 3.7%, that means this race is still a toss up at this point.
That wasn't the case six months ago. It looked like Gov. Snyder was on his way, easily, to being re-elected.
You can see how the gap closed in this graph from Real Clear Politics:
PPP's writes that Gov. Snyder could be in such a tight race because " several of his major accomplishments have proven to be very unpopular."
More from their press release:
Voters say by a 48/36 margin that they would vote to repeal the right to work law if it was on the ballot. And they oppose the increase in pension taxes that's been highlighted in early campaign ads by a 74/17 spread. One thing that may be helping to keep Snyder afloat is the popularity of Medicaid expansion in the state- five months after it took effect voters support the 'Healthy Michigan' program by 24 points, 50/26. That's one issue where Snyder is winning some favor across party lines.
In Michigan's other big race, the race for a seat in the U.S. Senate, things are not as close, according to this poll.
PPP found that Democratic candidate Gary Peters is leading his Republican opponent, Terri Lynn Land 43% to 36% (+/- 3.7% margin of error).
More from PPP:
Voters remain pretty ambivalent toward Peters himself- 35% have a favorable view of him to 36% with an unfavorable one. But with Land extremely unpopular, he continues to be in good shape. One issue playing to Peters' considerable advantage is the minimum wage- voters support increasing it to $10 an hour by a 58/34 spread.
Here's how that race has changed over the last six months:
