House Speaker Andy Dillon, left, speaks to a fundraiser crowd in Rochester Hills.

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3 GOP Hopefuls Take Lead in Governor Race Polling; Dillon Leads Dems

Cox, Hoekstra, Snyder Virtually Tied Among Likely Voters

March 22, 2010
By: Dave Rogers

A recent statewide voter survey shows three Republican gubernatorial candidates defeating both major Democratic gubernatorial candidates by significant margins.

Marketing Resource Group (MRG) polling shows the GOP primary matchup among likely Republican primary voters with Attorney General Mike Cox and Congressman Pete Hoekstra tied at 21 percent with businessman Rick Snyder right behind at 20 percent.

In the Democratic primary matchup among likely Democrat primary voters Speaker Andy Dillon has a 21 percent to 9 percent lead over Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.

The candidates already are beginning to get out on the campaign trail. Cox visited Bay City and walked in the the St. Patrick's Day Parade with local Republicans while Dillon met with local Democrats here last week.

"The GOP primary is now a three-person race. Mike Cox, Pete Hoekstra, and Rick Snyder are in a virtual dead heat in the GOP primary. The advertising for Rick Snyder has obviously paid off. He is has put himself in contention for the nomination with his early spending," said Tom Shields, president of MRG.

The results show that Snyder has gained dramatically since the Fall 2009 Michigan Poll. Snyder has moved from 2 to 20 percent. Cox and Hoekstra have dropped from 27 percent and 26 percent respectively to 21 percent. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard has dropped from 15 percent to 10 percent.

LIKELY REPUBLICANS ONLY

TOTAL BOUCHARD..............................................10%

TOTAL COX............................................................21%

TOTAL HOEKSTRA................................................21%

TOTAL SNYDER .................................................20%

Democratic Primary

"Speaker Dillon holds a big lead because of his statewide recognition. Dillon leads in every region of the state except Mid Michigan. Bernero has a commanding lead in Mid Michigan but barely registers in the rest of the state," said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.

With Lt. Governor Cherry out of the race Speaker of the House Andy Dillon holds a 12-point lead over Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. State Senator Alma Wheeler Smith is in third with 6 percent.

If the Democrat primary election for Michigan Governor were being held today -- for whom would you vote?

LIKELY DEMOCRATS ONLY

TOTAL DILLON................................................... 21%

TOTAL BERNERO................................................. 9%

TOTAL WHEELER SMITH...............................6%

Possible General Election Match-ups

"Every major GOP candidate is defeating both Dillon and Bernero in head-to-head matchups as of now. What is surprising is the size of the lead ranges from 15 percent to 22 percent depending on the matchup. These are very significant leads for the GOP at this point in time," said Shields.

The survey was conducted March 10-15. Sample size is 600 registered voters. The margin of error is + 4.1%. Smaller samples have larger margins of error. ###