Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer is leading by 13 percent in her race for re-election against Trump-backed Republican Tudor Dixon, who never previously held elected office, according to a new poll from The Detroit News and WDIV-TV.
Among likely voters participating in the poll, Whitmer finished with 48 percent of the support, while Dixon got just 35 percent. Michigan was one of the states Trump and his allies targeted in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election amid the wide-ranging attempts at keeping Donald in power despite his loss. A Trump-supporting Republican obtaining power at the helm of Michigan’s government could seriously threaten the orderly handling of elections in the state through means such as the imposition of draconian restrictions on the electoral process. Trump also has supporters prominently running in ongoing gubernatorial races in Arizona and Pennsylvania. In Arizona, his pick — GOP nominee Kari Lake — was one of those behind a now failed lawsuit seeking to force the counting of Arizona’s ballots this year by hand instead of using tabulation machines, so that’s the level of conspiratorial thinking with which we’re working here.
Besides Trump and his allies targeting Michigan over the 2020 presidential election outcome, Whitmer also frequently faced criticism for steps she took in attempts to thwart the spread of COVID-19. “Governor Gretchen Whitmer is the Queen of lockdowns (except for her husband), school closures, and a suffering economy that’s not just hurting Michigan, but the entire Country,” Trump said in his July endorsement of Dixon, who won the party’s nod for governor after other GOP contenders in the primary were removed from contention because of invalid signatures submitted in association with them getting on the ballot. “It’s time for a BIG change, and a BIG comeback!” Trump also claimed Whitmer is “trying to destroy Michigan and our Country,” which is obviously a delusional accusation. Whitmer isn’t conspiring to destroy the U.S., whatever that means. Trump likes to tout his endorsement record, but his pick in the Georgia GOP primary for governor lost by over 50 percent, and the Michigan governor’s race might end up as another loss.
