Whitmer Leads All Republican Gubernatorial Candidates: Report

MICHIGAN — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer holds strong leads over five potential Republican gubernatorial candidates with less than four until Election Day in November, according to a poll from The Detroit News and WDIV.

The July 2022 poll surveyed 600 likely voters from July 5-8 by live telephone operators and found Michiganders are eager to vote, the report said.

Although the poll found voters largely disapprove of President Joe Biden, it found strong support for Whitmer, as she holds leads ranging from nine percentage points to 15, the report said.

Moreover, the study found that most surveyed in the poll hadn't heard of the Republican gubernatorial candidates, as none of them reached 50 percent name identification among survey respondents.

Ryan Kelley lead all Republican gubernatorial candidates in name recognition with 49.8 percent, according to the poll. He was arrested and charged in connection to the Capital Riot with four misdemeanors. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Whitmer's leads against GOP candidates, according to the poll:

• Whitmer 52% vs Ralph Rebandt 37%
• Whitmer 52% vs Garrett Soldano 38%
• Whitmer 52% vs Kevin Rinke 40%
• Whitmer 51% vs Tudor Dixon 40%
• Whitmer 50% vs Ryan Kelley 41%

Furthermore, the study showed Whitmer has strong approval ratings with 55 percent of voters approving her job performance, which is up from 48 percent in September 2021.

"Michigan does not appear to be showing signs of a red wave," Richard Czuba, founder of the Lansing-based Glengariff Group, which conducted the survey told the Detroit News. "In fact, it shows signs of keeping its incumbents in office."

Attorney General Dana Nessel holds a 6.7 percent lead over Matthew DePerno and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson holds a 7.7 percent lead over Kristina Karamo.