Throughout the past three weeks, Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Attorney General Mike Cox has taken the lead over longtime frontrunner U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, according to polls released Friday by Lansing-based polling firm EPIC-MRA.
The poll, conducted June 12-15, showed Cox gained 8 percent from EPIC-MRA’s previous poll, conducted May 22-26, and now holds 26 percent of Republican voters. In the same amount of time, Hoekstra dropped from 30 percent support to 24 percent support. Among the other GOP candidates, Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder holds 20 percent, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard holds 16 percent and state Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, holds 2 percent. About 12 percent of Republican voters still are undecided.
Rankings in the race for the Democratic nomination have not changed from the May poll, but Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives Andy Dillon, D-Redford, has widened his lead over Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. Dillon increased his support from 29 percent to 34 percent in the most recent poll. Bernero lags behind at 24 percent, although he did increase his support base by 1 percent since the May poll. About 42 percent of Democratic voters still are undecided.
The polls were conducted by a live phone interview with 600 voters across the state, with an error margin of 4 percent. Each poll about the primary elections included 400 voters, with an error margin of 4.9 percent.
The massive shift in Republican loyalties can be attributed to Cox’s growing collection of endorsements, said Bernie Porn, president of EPIC-MRA. Cox has picked up endorsements from the Right to Life of Michigan, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and a smattering of state senators.
“The hat trick of all three of (the endorsements) probably had most of the impact of moving Cox eight points ahead of where he was at, and also whittling down some of Hoekstra’s support,” Porn said.
The Cox campaign also attributes much of its recent success to endorsements, Cox’s spokesman Nick De Leeuw said.
“(The individuals and groups that have endorsed Cox) understand he is exactly the kind of fighter that Michigan needs to turn this state around,” De Leeuw said.
On the Democratic side, Bernero has received several endorsements, including major labor unions such as AFL-CIO and the Michigan Education Association, or MEA. Unlike Cox’s endorsements, they do not appear to be helping Bernero overtake Dillon, Porn said.
“If the AFL and the MEA have not started to communicate (the endorsements) yet, well then it’s just whatever their members’ perceptions are of the candidates,” Porn said. “If they really want Bernero to win they probably ought to be putting the pedal to the metal.”
Dillon plans to continue running his campaign with conviction and dedication, his spokesman, Ken Coleman, said.
“Andy’s laser focus at this time is delivering his plan to create jobs, reform state government and fix the state’s troubled economy,” he said.
Spokespersons for Bernero and Hoekstra did not return requests for comment Monday.
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