Voters might lean right in governor election

Negative perceptions about Michigan’s current state might sway voters toward a Republican candidate in the 2010 gubernatorial election, but young voters probably still will support a Democratic candidate, experts said.

Voters are divided about whether they would support a Democratic or Republican candidate, with about 37 percent of polled voters favoring any Republican candidate and 36 percent favoring any Democratic candidate, according to a telephone survey by Rasmussen Reports. Twenty-seven percent were undecided.

But Democrat Gov. Jennifer Granholm has a statewide disapproval rating of 60 percent, according to another survey by Rasmussen Reports. This means Republicans have a good chance of winning Michigan’s executive branch, said Steve Mitchell, president of East Lansing-based Mitchell Research and Communications Inc.

“When people don’t like the party that is in power, they will vote for the party that is out of power,” he said.

Michigan lawmakers recently eliminated the Michigan Promise Scholarship in an attempt to balance the state’s $40 billion budget and eliminate the state’s $2.8 billion deficit.

But economics senior Mark Fitzgerald said he does not associate this move with Granholm or the Democratic Party, but with the Michigan Legislature.

“People place the blame on Granholm,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s sad (the Michigan Promise Scholarship) was taken away, but it doesn’t impact my voting decision.”

MSU assistant political science professor Matt Grossmann said the elimination of the scholarship might influence more young people to vote in the gubernatorial election.

“It sort of personalizes the vote (for students),” he said.

Grossmann predicted that even if Michigan voters favor Republican candidates in the gubernatorial election, students as a whole probably would lean left.

And Grossmann said a poll that does not name candidates might not be a strong indication of voters’ tendencies.

“A governor’s race is a fairly individualistic kind of race, so without naming any specific candidates, it’s hard to say how predictive it would be of people’s eventual votes,” he said.

Lt. Gov. John Cherry is one of the leading Democratic candidates for governor and his associations to Granholm might hurt his platform, Mitchell said.

Chris DeWitt, a spokesperson for Cherry, said Cherry is different than Granholm.

“They don’t agree on all issues, and he will be running on his accomplishments and his plans for the future,” DeWitt said.

Other potential Democratic candidates include state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, of Salem, Mich., former Flint Mayor Don Williamson, MSU Trustee George Perles and former state Rep. John Freeman, of Madison Heights, Mich., according to EPIC-MRA, a public policy polling group in Lansing.

Potential Republican candidates include current state Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, of Holland, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and state Sen. Tom George, of Kalamazoo, according to EPIC-MRA.

Stu Sandler, a spokesman for Mike Cox, said there is a leadership deficit under the current administration.

“The Granholm administration hasn’t led enough,” he said. “They haven’t provided the leadership needed to reform the government.”