(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/30/22) Republican Attorney General nominee Matt DePerno and Secretary of State nominee Kristina Karamo are sitting with about 75% of the electorate not knowing who they are, according to the most recent EPIC-MRA polling data.
EPIC-MRA pollster Bernie Porn has looked at these numbers and reports that the Republicans aren't alone.
"Those are the offices that do not get the kind of recognition as the governor. Around 45%-40% of the voters do not recognize Dana Nessel or Jocelyn Benson" so the high (non recognition) numbers for their opponents "is not that surprising."
You can probably blame every sitting governor in the last 50 years for helping to create this problem. They pretty much suck up most of the media coverage oxygen in town, leaving the scraps for those who hold office underneath them.
Perhaps the best two examples of this name ID plague centers around two long-term veterans in the Secretary of State and Attorney General offices. Former Secretary of State Richard Austin served from 1971 to 1995. The late Frank Kelley served as the Attorney General for even longer – from 1961 to 1999 – and when they both left office, 30% of the citizenry still didn't know Austin and 20% said “Frank who?”
Given that, Porn's survey shows the contest for both offices is close. The incumbents hold a slight four-to-five-point lead.
How so?
He said he believes voters are responding more to the R's and D's after the candidates' names and not the individuals themselves. The party base for all four candidates gives the Democrats a slight edge since there are more of them than Republicans in the state.
Porn said he predicts the numbers will begin to grow once the TV adverting begins, but he suspects Nessel and Benson "are keeping their powder dry until the other two start advertising."
Given the speculation that DePerno and Karamo are hurting for cash, it's unclear when their campaigns might begin, which would uncork the few millions of dollars the two Democrats are sitting on.
