EASTPOINTE, Mich. – Here’s where the races stand in the 10th Congressional District as Macomb County once again is poised to play a pivotal role in the November election.
Local 4 polled southern Macomb County, Specifically the areas covered by the 10th Congressional District. That district is that of the John James-Carl Marlinga race.
Read: Poll: James leads Marlinga in key Macomb County congressional race
James has an eight-point lead, but the Gubernatorial numbers are a very different story.
Republican candidate for governor, Tudor Dixon, has not made even remotely the same inroads as James. Still, pollster Richard Czuba says there’s no way the polls will have Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer leading with such an enormous margin in November.
“We have Whitmer winning by more than 20 points here, and there’s no way she will have a 20-point win,” said Czuba. “What’s going to happen is these ads are going to go up on the air, and Dixon’s Republicans are going to start to come home to her. This race will tighten. This race will narrow. The question will be, ‘what will those independents do? What will those leaning Republicans do?’”
Read: Poll: Where Macomb County voters stand on Whitmer vs. Dixon, Trump, abortion proposal, Biden
James has his votes locked up, but Dixon does not, as nearly a quarter of his voters telling Local 4 that they will be voting for Whitmer.
“Macomb is the home for the ticket splitter,” Czuba said. “It has always been the home of ticket splitters, and my God, we are seeing it now. This is ticket splitting 101 for anybody that needs to know how it’s done.”
In a district where both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump are unpopular, it means voters are more likely to pick and choose from different parties as they go down the ballot.
So far, what’s driving the message and why Dixon is so underwater, especially with women voters, is her stance on abortion.
“Tudor Dixon has a problem with leaning Republican voters,” Czuba said. “Specifically, leaning Republican moderate women. There’s a lot of them here in southern Macomb County. If Tudor Dixon can’t figure out how to get them back then she’s in trouble.”
The first televised debate between Dixon and Whitmer is Thursday (Oct. 13).