Fieger received 28 percent support in the poll, while House Speaker Andy Dillon of Redford received 20 percent support, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero received 13 percent and State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith of Salem Township received 8 percent support.

“(Fieger) has much better name recognition, and he goes very well in the matchups in southeast Michigan,” said Bernie Porn, president of EPIC-MRA. “It’s mostly name recognition.”
Fieger did not return calls for comment.

A graduate of the Detroit College of Law at MSU, now the MSU College of Law, Fieger is most famous for the defense trial of assisted suicide proponent Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

In 1997, Fieger donated about $4 million to the MSU College of Law to create the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute, where he often addresses and works with law students, said Tina Kashat Casoli, the director of development at the College of Law.

“He believes passionately in giving back to students in the legal profession and trying to make a difference for the students interested in doing the kind of work he does,” she said. “He is definitely a leader in his profession and definitely a leader for the law community.”

Casoli said Fieger is the kind of person who could make a difference in the state
of Michigan.

Fieger ran for governor in 1998 but lost in the general election to former Republican Gov. John Engler.

“He lost by a huge margin,” said Steve Mitchell, president of East Lansing-based Mitchell Research and Communications Inc. “Looking back in polling I’ve done in the past, Fieger continues to be very polarizing and very unpopular.”

If Fieger decides to run, he would have to collect 15,000 valid signatures for a nominating petition, which he must submit by May 11. Mitchell said Fieger might succeed in the Democratic primary race, but he would likely lose in the general election.

“He could win the primary because he has enough money,” Mitchell said. “But I think in the general, he would have real problems.”