According to a new internal poll conducted on behalf of the Michigan Senate campaign of Republican John James, his race against incumbent Democratic senator Gary Peters is in a dead heat.
In the new survey of more than 550 registered voters, support for Peters is at 47 percent, while James’s is at 46 percent. Three percent of voters say they’ll support a third-party or write-in candidate, while 4 percent remain undecided.
The survey was conducted by the Tarrance Group between September 1 and September 3. According to James’s campaign, the Republican has narrowly outraised Peters for the overall election cycle and outraised him in five consecutive financial periods.
James, a businessman and military veteran, ran for Senate in 2018 against Michigan’s other incumbent Democratic senator, Debbie Stabenow. He lost that race by about six points, a smaller margin than most polling of the race had predicted.
At the urging of top Republicans, James has agreed to campaign again, this time against the less well-known Peters, who is just completing his first term in the Senate after having been elected in 2014.
Most polls in the state over the last month have suggested that the James campaign has been closing the gap against Peters. In late July, a survey of likely voters put Peters up by ten points. Two polls from the end of August, meanwhile, showed a closer race: One showed that Peters was ahead only by five and the other showed James up by one.
These surveys track with the presidential race in Michigan, which, according to most polls, has also been narrowing. The RealClearPolitics average puts Joe Biden ahead of President Trump in Michigan by about 2.5 points, but the most recent survey of the race, from Trafalgar, has Trump ahead by two.