MI-GOV: New poll finds Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (I) will draw votes from both Democrats, Republicans

[RandySF]

Lansing — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a former Democrat who's running to be Michigan's governor as an independent, will draw a similar amount of support from both Democrats and Republicans, according to a statewide poll of registered voters released Tuesday.

The results of the survey, commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber, debuted 17 months before the November 2026 election and on the first day of the chamber's annual conference on Mackinac Island.

The findings suggested that Michigan Democrats still have a path to win the governor's office even with Duggan, the mayor of the state's largest city — a Democratic stronghold — on the ballot.

In a hypothetical three-way contest, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit got 34.5%, Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township received 34%, and Duggan netted 21.5%, according to the May 5-8 poll. The remaining 9.4% of voters surveyed were undecided. The poll was conducted by the Lansing-based Glengariff Group and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.



https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/27/michigan-governor-senate-poll-mike-duggan-jocelyn-benson-john-james-rogers-mcmorrow-el-sayed-stevens/83873218007/

[Srkdqltr]

1. He is quite popular.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. That's a nice, optimistic poll.

Since Duggan's a life-long Dem, I think he'll get many more votes from Dems than from Reps. Enough that John James could sail into the governor's mansion with a good-sized minority of the votes.

Duggan would make a pretty good governor. I wish he'd run in the Democratic primary, like a normal Dem.

[MIButterfly]

3. John James as governor?

That's another nightmare. As if things weren't bad enough.....

[W_HAMILTON]

4. I was about to say...

If he's so popular, surely he could win in a primary.

And he's mayor of freaking Detroit -- he damn sure ain't a Republican.

Third party spoiler candidates, time and time again, only hurt Democrats. Republicans are a cult and will come around and vote party-line when it comes down to it. But they are in the minority in most places -- certainly Michigan -- so they need third party candidates to draw votes away from Democrats so that they can win with fewer -- but cultishly loyal -- voters.

Those on the left seem to be the only ones that get deluded into falling in love with a third party and then being dumb enough to follow through with it and waste their vote on Election Day voting for one.