DETROIT – Michigan voters appear pretty evenly split on the upcoming race for an open Senate seat in November, according to a new WDIV/Detroit News poll.
Results from a survey of Michigan voters conducted between Jan. 2-6 found that Michigan votes said they were more likely to vote for a Democrat than a Republican if the race for U.S. senator for Michigan were to be held now. Head-to-head polling showed a toss up.
Here are some of the key findings from this portion of the survey:
U.S. Michigan Senate race candidates
Michigan voters were asked about the candidates running for U.S. senator to fill the seat soon-to-be-vacated by U.S. Senator from Michigan Debbie Stabenow.
Here’s what Michigan voters said when asked if they were familiar with the candidates in the running for 2024:
- U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (Democrat): 45.1% of voters said they were familiar with Slotkin. 17.5% viewed Slotkin favorably, while 11.2% viewed her unfavorably. 16.4% of voters who knew of Slotkin had no opinion of her. 53.7% of voters said they haven’t heard of Slotkin.
- Hill Harper (Democrat): 14% of voters said they were familiar with Harper. 85% of voters haven’t heard of him.
- James Craig (Republican): 38.3% of voters have heard of Craig. 10.1% viewed him favorably, while 8.9% viewed him unfavorably. 19.3% of voters who have heard of him had no opinion of him. 60.2% of voters haven’t heard of him.
- Peter Meijer (Republican): 35.4% of voters have heard of Meijer. 7.8% viewed him favorably, while 7.9% viewed him unfavorably. 19.7% of voters had no opinion of him. 63.6% of voters haven’t heard of him.
- Mike Rogers (Republican): 31.6% of voters have heard of Rogers. 7.3% viewed him favorably, while 3.8% viewed him unfavorably. 20.5% of voters had no opinion of him. 66.9% of voters have never heard of him.
- Sandy Penslar (Republican): 14.6% of voters have heard of Penslar. 85% of voters have never heard of him.
Senate seat voting preferences
Michigan voters were provided a few different scenarios and asked who they would vote for in each scenario.
If the U.S. Senate race were held today, Michigan voters said they would vote in the following ways:
- Slotkin vs. Craig: If Elissa Slotkin was Democratic nominee and James Craig was the Republican nominee, 35.5% of voters said they would vote for Slotkin, while 37.8% said they would vote for Craig.
- Slotkin vs. Rogers: If Elissa Slotkin was Democratic nominee and Mike Rogers was the Republican nominee, 37.5% of voters said they would vote for Slotkin, while 37.1% would vote for Rogers.
- Slotkin vs. Meijer: If Elissa Slotkin was Democratic nominee and Peter Meijer was the Republican nominee, 36.3% of voters said they would vote for Slotkin, while 35.7% would vote for Meijer.
The numbers above are interesting considering that among the polled Michigan voters, 37.4% said they would vote Democratic and 34.7% said they would vote Republican if the election for U.S. senator for Michigan was held today.
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About the survey participants
- How they vote: 39.8% Democratic, 39.5% Republican, 19.2% Independent.
- Where they live: 46.3% of the voters were from Metro Detroit, while 53.7% were from outstate. 17.7% said they lived in an urban area; 33.7% live in the suburbs; 21.5% live in small towns; and 25% live in rural areas.
- Ages: 15.9% of respondents were between 18-29 years old; 17.2% were between 30-39; 20.8% were between 40-49; 23.8% were between 50-64; and 21.7% were 65+.
- Race: 76.7% of respondents identified as Caucasian; 14% identified as Black; 1.8% identified as Hispanic/Mexican/Puerto Rican; 0.5% identified as Asian; and 0.5% identified as Native American.
- Gender: 48.3% of respondents were female. 51.7% were male.
Methodology
The Glengariff Group, Inc. conducted a Michigan statewide survey of November 2024 likely general election voters. The 600 sample, live operator telephone survey was conducted on January 2-6, 2024 and has a margin of error of +/-4.0% with a 95% level of confidence. 14% of respondents were contacted via landline telephone. 86% of respondents were contacted via cell phone telephone. This survey was commissioned by WDIV Local 4 News and the Detroit News.