Whitmer up by 9 points in reelection bid: survey

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) leads Republican challenger Tudor Dixon by about 9 points in her bid for reelection, according to a new poll. 

The poll from the Detroit-based NBC affiliate WDIV and The Detroit News found that 51.7 percent of likely voters surveyed support Whitmer and 43.1 percent support Dixon. 

The race has narrowed since September, when some polls were showing Whitmer leading by double digits and as much as 17 points. 

The latest poll showed Whitmer receiving support from independents and even some Republicans.

She received support from more than 57 percent of independents polled, while only 30 percent supported Dixon. 

More than 20 percent of Republican-leaning voters and 6 percent of solid Republican voters also said they support Whitmer. Only about 2 percent of Democratic leaning voters support Dixon. 

Whitmer leads among women by a 2-to-1 margin, while Dixon leads among men by about 14 points. 

Almost 50 percent of voters said they view Whitmer favorably, while 46 percent said they viewed her unfavorably. 

Dixon has significantly improved her name recognition throughout the campaign, but 11 percent of respondents still said they have no opinion of her. About 37 percent said they view her favorably, while 45 percent said they view her unfavorably. 

Pollsters found that the two debates between Whitmer and Dixon appear to not have had much of an effect on the race, with only 36 percent of respondents saying they watched it and 60 percent saying it had no influence on their vote. 

The poll did find that Republican enthusiasm is slightly higher than that of Democrats. 

Strong Republican voters scored a 9.7 on a 10-point scale measuring enthusiasm, and leaning Republican voters scored a 9.6. Strong Democratic voters scored a 9.4, while leaning Democrats scored an 8.5. 

The poll found inflation and the cost of living is the primary motivating factor for respondents to vote. Forty percent of respondents said those factors were influencing them to turn out, while 31.4 percent mentioned abortion. Abortion had been the main motivating factor in previous polls. 

The poll was conducted from Oct. 26-28 among 600 likely voters. The margin of error was 4 points.