Snyder holds 53 percent of voters, while Bernero only has garnered 29 percent of voters to this point. About 15 percent of respondents were undecided.

The poll also examined voters’ reasons for choosing their candidate and how party identification compared with voters’ preferred nominee.

About 16 percent of voters who supported Snyder said they chose him for his Republican endorsement, while 11 percent said they were motivated by his experience as a businessman. A much higher number, about 38 percent of Bernero supporters, said they supported Bernero for his party.

Independents leaned toward Snyder, EPIC-MRA president Bernie Porn said.

“(Bernero is) still trailing by better than three-to-one, almost four-to-one, among independent voters,” Porn said. “At the same time, Snyder is still getting 90 percent of the Republican votes.”

Conducted Sept. 11-12, the poll utilized live telephone interviews with 600 people, and has an error margin of four percent.

Snyder is pleased by the number of voters responding to his vision for Michigan, spokesman Bill Nowling said.

“You’re seeing voters respond to new and fresh ideas from outside Lansing and not from a career politician,” Nowling said. “They’ve overwhelmingly said ‘No’ to the negative attack ads that are flooding the airwaves right now.”

Although Bernero is suffering in this poll, voters will respond to his message as they did late in the primary election, spokesman Cullen Schwarz said.

“The polls showed (Bernero) down by 20 points in the primary, and that was an election he won by about 20 points,” Schwarz said. “The more that people learn about (Bernero’s) economic plan and his record of creating jobs in Lansing and Mr. Snyder’s of outsourcing jobs and running Gateway into the ground, the more those numbers will change.”

However, if Bernero does not gain support and tighten up the polling numbers soon, he risks losing financial backing from his support groups, Porn said.

“At some point in early October, the various groups that support Democratic candidates and the Democratic party will probably be inclined to shoot their resources toward protecting the Michigan House (and) control of that rather than the governor’s race,” Porn said.

The poll also examined the attorney general and Secretary of State races. In the attorney general election, 39 percent of people support Republican Bill Schuette, 25 percent favor Democrat David Leyton and 31 percent remain undecided. In the Secretary of State race, 31 percent back Republican Tea Party champion Ruth Johnson, 25 percent support Democrat Jocelyn Benson and 39 percent still are undecided.