James leading Marlinga by 8 points in Michigan House bid: survey

Republican John James leads Democrat Carl Malinga by nearly 8 percentage points in Michigan’s competitive, newly drawn 10th Congressional District, according to a Detroit News-WDIV poll released on Monday.

The poll, which was conducted by Glengariff Group for the two outlets, found James garnered the support of 44 percent of respondents, compared to 36 percent who supported Marlinga. 

About 5 percent said they would support a third-party candidate, while 13 percent were undecided.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as “likely Republican,” one of multiple districts Republicans hope to capture in their quest to flip Democrats’ razor-thin majority in the House.

The significantly redrawn Michigan district has left no incumbent in the race. Rep. Lisa McClain (R) currently represents the district, but she is running for reelection in the neighboring 9th District that more closely resembles her existing constituency.

Democratic Reps. Andy Levin and Haley Stevens ran against each other in the 11th Congressional District primary, with Stevens coming out victorious.

James, the Republican nominee who ran two unsuccessful Senate campaigns in 2018 and 2020, had the support of 86 percent of GOP respondents, according to the poll.

Marlinga, a former U.S. attorney and judge, only garnered the support of 83 percent of respondents identifying as strong Democrats and 58 percent who identified as “lean Democratic.”

Among independents, Marlinga beat out James with 36 percent support, compared to James’s 26 percent.

Voters were more likely to have heard of James, however. Nearly 89 percent of respondents said they had heard of him, 20 percentage points higher than Marlinga’s name identification.

Forty-four percent indicated they have a favorable opinion of James, compared to 31 percent who said they had an unfavorable opinion. 

Marlinga’s favorability rating clocked in at 19 percent, while 22 percent viewed him unfavorably.

The poll was conducted with 400 likely general election voters in the district between Oct. 4 and Oct. 6. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.