Republican businessman Dick DeVos has increased his lead over Democratic incumbent Jennifer Granholm in the race for governor of Michigan, a new poll reveals.
In the poll of 1,200 likely Michigan voters by Strategic Vision, LLC, DeVos led 48 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided.
A poll in late May had DeVos – scion of one of Michigan’s wealthiest families – ahead 45 percent to 42 percent. Another poll in early May had the two deadlocked.
"DeVos increased his lead significantly over the past month and Granholm lost some support,” said David E. Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision.
"DeVos is increasing support among all segments of the voting population and this puts Governor Granholm in a very precarious situation.
When asked if they approved or disapproved of Gov. Granholm’s overall job performance, 39 percent of respondents approved, 45 disapproved and 16 percent were undecided.
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Granholm was elected in November 2002, defeating GOP challenger Dick Posthumus with 51 percent of the vote.
Other findings of the new poll:
Only 32 percent of respondents approved of President Bush’s overall job performance, while 58 percent disapproved and 10 percent were undecided. But that’s an improvement over the last poll, when 30 percent approved and 62 percent disapproved.
Much of the improvement "can be attributed to events in Iraq,” said Johnson. "The largest question: Is this a trend of just a temporary improvement?”
When asked if they favored granting amnesty to all illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., 10 percent of respondents said yes, 74 percent said no and 16 percent were undecided.
Asked if they favored building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration, 69 percent said yes, 17 percent said no and 14 percent were undecided.
Asked whom they would support for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, 39 percent chose Arizona Sen. John McCain, 22 percent selected former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and 15 percent chose Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Other potential candidates received less than 4 percent of the vote.
Among Democrats, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton led with 32 percent, former Vice President Al Gore got 19 percent – up from 15 percent in the last poll – former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards received 40 percent and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold both got 7 percent. Other potential candidates received less than 3 percent.
In the poll, 46 percent of respondents identified themselves as Democrats, 42 percent said they were Republicans and 12 percent identified themselves as Independent or with other party affiliation.
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