The race for Michigan attorney general is as close as it can get, while the incumbent Michigan secretary of state continues to hold a lead in her race, according to a new WDIV/Detroit News poll.
Results from a survey of Michigan voters conducted between Oct. 26-28 found that Democratic incumbent Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is leading in her race against Republican opponent Kristina Karamo. In the race for Michigan attorney general, Democratic incumbent Dana Nessel is polling dead-even with GOP opponent Matt Deperno with one week until Election Day.
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Here are some of the key findings from this portion of the survey:
Attorney general race tossup
- The race has tightened significantly between Democrat AG Nessel and Republican DePerno. The race for Michigan attorney general is a statistical tossup with 1 week until the election.
- 43.7% of voters support Nessel, while 42.5% of voters support DePerno.
- 5.3% of voters support a third-party candidate. 7.9% of voters are undecided on this race.
- Support has grown for both candidates since September. Earlier this month, Nessel had 42.5% of the vote, while DePerno had 30.4% of the vote.
- Nessel has a 60.5% name identification. 22.8% of voters view her favorably, while 23.5% of voters view her unfavorably.
- 14.2% of voters have no opinion of Nessel, and 37.7% of voters have never heard of her.
- DePerno has a 38.8% name identification. 10.7% of voters view him favorably, while 14.2% of voters view him unfavorably.
- 13.9% of voters have no opinion of DePerno, and 57.5% of voters have never heard of him.
- Support for each candidate is consistent across party lines, with 92.9% of strong Democratic voters supporting Nessel, and 85.1% of strong Republican voters supporting DePerno.
- Nessel leads among Independent voters, securing 39.1% of their vote, compared to DePerno’s 30.5% of Independent support.
- 18.5% of Independent voters remain undecided on this race.
More: Michigan Voter Guide 2022: Get to know key races, ballot proposals before voting
Benson leads against Karamo
- Democratic incumbent SOS Benson is holding a 10-point lead over GOP opponent Karamo.
- Benson has secured 48.7% of the vote, while Karamo has 38.6% of the vote -- which is a lead of 10.1%.
- 5.1% of voters are choosing a third-party candidate, while 6.9% of voters remain undecided on this race.
- Benson has a 62.8% name identification. 26.8% of voters view her favorably, and 18.3% of voters view her unfavorably.
- 17.7% of voters have no opinion of Benson, and 35.4% of voters haven’t heard of her.
- Karamo has a 43.2% name identification among Michigan voters. 10.4% of voters view her favorably, while 17.9% view her unfavorably.
- 14.9% of voters have no opinion of Karamo, and 53.4% of voters have never heard of her.
- Support for the candidates remain fairly consistent across party lines. The strongest support for each candidate comes from their party’s base voters.
- Benson has strong support among strong Democratic voters (93.9%), and among leaning Democratic voters (78.6%).
- Benson has also secured 49.8% of Independent voters, 18.4% of leaning Republican voters and 9.6% of strong Republican voters.
- Karamo has strong support among strong Republican voters (80.4%), and decent support among leaning Republican voters (63.3%).
- Karamo has secured 25% of Independent voters, 2.4% of leaning Democratic voters and 0% of strong Democratic voters.
Methodology
The Glengariff Group, Inc. conducted a Michigan statewide survey of November 2022 likely general election voters. The 600 sample, live operator telephone survey was conducted on October 26-28, 2022, and has a margin of error of +/-4.0% with a 95% level of confidence. 28.4% of respondents were contacted via landline telephone. 71.6% of respondents were contacted via cell phone telephone. This survey was commissioned by WDIV Local 4 News and the Detroit News.