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Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a double-digit lead over her GOP opponent, Tudor Dixon, in the Michigan governor's race, a new poll finds.
The EPIC-MRA survey found 50% of likely voters backing Whitmer and 39% backing Dixon, a conservative commentator, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Whitmer had a net-positive favorability rating, with 48% saying they had a favorable view of the governor, and 43% saying they had an unfavorable view. Nearly a quarter of voters did not recognize Dixon's name, while 22% viewed her favorably and 35% viewed her unfavorably.
But it wasn't all good news for Whitmer. She had a net-negative job approval rating, with 51% rating her negatively and 47% giving her a positive rating. A plurality of voters surveyed — 45% — said the state is heading in the wrong direction.
Whitmer's lead in the survey came despite President Joe Biden's negative approval rating — just 30% gave him a positive job rating while 69% rated him negatively.
The survey also found a sizable majority who said they would support a ballot initiative amending the state constitution to protect the right to an abortion. Two-thirds of voters — 67% — said they would vote "yes" on the proposal, while 24% said they would vote "no."
The poll surveyed 600 likely voters from Aug. 18 through Aug. 23, via live phone interviews, with 70% surveyed via cell phones. The poll had a margin of error of 4%.
A recent AARP poll did find a tighter race for governor. In that poll, Whitmer had a 5-point lead among likely voters, with 51% backing Whitmer and 46% backing Dixon. That poll, conducted Aug. 8-14, surveyed 1,365 likely voters via phone and text-to-web interviews, and had a margin of error of 4.4%.