LANSING – The enthusiasm of Republican voters about voting for gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder is so much stronger than Democratic enthusiasm is for Virg Bernero that a GOP wave could sweep the state up and down the ticket, even putting the Democratic majority in the House at risk, according to a poll commissioned by Gongwer News Service.
Sixty-five percent of Republicans voters described themselves as very or mostly enthusiastic about voting for Snyder. Just 49 percent of Democratic voters said they were enthusiastic about voting for Bernero.
The poll was conducted by EPIC/MRA between Saturday and Monday among 600 voters. EPIC/MRA President Bernie Porn said the enthusiasm gap between Republican and Democratic voters signals not only the uphill struggle Bernero faces, but imperils Democrats across the board.
Such numbers could lead to the 1st, 7th and 9th U.S. House Districts flipping from Democratic to Republican control, allow Republicans to bolster their 22-16 Senate majority and even enable what had been unthinkable – give the Republicans a chance to seize the House, which now has a 65-42 Democratic majority with three vacancies.
“Republicans are more energized and more excited about the election and clearly more excited about their candidate,” Porn said. “Things can change, but if the election were held today, Democrats would have a very unpleasant experience.”
Base party enthusiasm is often at least as important as swaying independents.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
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