DETROIT – A new statewide poll, commissioned by Lansing-based Vanguard Public Affairs, has Gov. Rick Snyder leading his Democratic rival Mark Schauer.
Vanguard's poll has Snyder at 43 percent to Schauer's 35 percent. Snyder's favorability rating polls at 44 percent.
The real shocker in those favorability numbers comes out of the city of Detroit. Twenty eight percent of Detroit voters had a favorable view of Snyder's tenure as governor, an unusually high rating for a Republican politician in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.
"What we found in terms of Detroit voters is really startling to us," said TJ Bucholz, Vanguard Public Affairs president. "Instead of a single digit like six percent or seven percent that Gov. Snyder typically has [in Detroit], our poll, really one of the first out-post grand bargain, saw 28 percent favorability,"
The U.S. Senate race between Terri Lynn Land and Gary Peters continues to be extremely tight, according to Vanguard. The poll has Peters at 40 percent and Land at 37 percent, which is within the margin of error. That result mimics poll numbers since the beginning of the year.
Right now the U.S. Senate seat is a toss up. Bucholz said that means one thing: "I think you're going to see some heavy spending here, some heavy dollars spent from now until November for sure."
Another poll released Tuesday, conducted by NBC News and Marist College, shows a tighter race for governor (Snyder 46 percent-Schauer 44 percent, with nine percent undecided) and Peters leading Land 43 percent to 37 percent.