MI GOV: Snyder Surges, Up 6 Over Democrat Schauer

It seems like Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is pulling ahead of Democratic challenger Mark Schauer. The former congressman is trailing the incumbent Republican by six points in the latest round of polls from the Rasmussen and EPIC-MRA.

In mid-September, a Rasmussen poll of 750 likely voters had Snyder leading Schauer 47/41. Now, an EPIC-MRA poll of 600 likely voters has Snyder leading within the same margin 45/39. Moreover, while some people may disagree with some of Snyder’s policies, Michigan voters have applauded the governor for getting a hold of the budget–and that he deserves re-election. Even with the right-to-work reforms, which some have labeled union busting; some voters are apparently seeing Snyder as the better option (via Detroit Free Press):

At the end of August, Democrat Mark Schauer was up by 2 points, 45%-43%, over Snyder in an EPIC-MRA poll done exclusively for the Detroit Free Press, WXYZ-TV (channel 7) and media polling partners.

After that, Snyder went up on the air with television commercials featuring him talking about his record in the last four years. And the spots worked, said Bernie Porn, president of the Lansing-based polling firm. Now Snyder is ahead by a 45%-39% margin in the poll of 600 likely voters done Sept. 25-29.

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"Snyder went up with his advertising campaign and it's made a significant difference in the race," Porn said. "Even with Snyder's lead, though, it is certainly not too late for Schauer to turn things around. They just have to find a message that resonates."

Fifty-four-year-old Joseph Parisi, of Taylor, who participated in the survey, said he doesn't like everything that Snyder has done, but on balance he deserves to be re-elected.

"He's gotten a hold of the budget. When Granholm was in office, they fought like cats and dogs over the budget," Parisi said. "And I agree with him pushing for the bridge (over the Detroit River)."

However, Parisi said he didn't like the way the right-to-work bill was passed or its end result.

"It just seems like union busting to me," said Parisi, who runs a carpet cleaning business. "But Snyder just seems to be the better choice of the two."