Detroit Chamber Poll Shows Gov's Race A Toss Up

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 02/23/2026) Independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Duggan, Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Republican John James (R-Shelby Township) are locked in a hypothetically competitive race that is statistically too close to call, based on a Jan. 27-Feb. 2 Detroit Regional Chamber survey released on Monday.

The poll of 600 registered voters found Duggan at 29.8 percent, James at 28.3 percent and Benson at 27.8 percent, all within the poll's +/-4 percent margin of error.

Among likely voters, which would be a smaller sample size, it's Duggan, 30.1 percent; James, 28.9 percent and Benson, 28.0 percent. Among definite voters, which would be an even smaller sample size, it's Benson, 30.9 percent; Duggan, 30.3 percent and James, 29.5 percent.

None of the aforementioned candidates have filed petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. Both James and Benson still need to win their respective primaries.

The results from the Glengariff Group, which does the polling for the Detroit Chamber, differ from polling the firm did for The Detroit News and WDIV in early January that showed James at 34 percent, Benson at 32 percent and Duggan at 26 percent.

The bump in numbers for Duggan over the four weeks — when little new advertising came out from anyone — hit Republicans and Democrats alike as suspicious, particularly since the Detroit Regional Chamber had publicly endorsed Duggan and made the former Detroit Mayor a marquee piece of their last Mackinac conference in May.

Hannah Osantowske, spokesperson for the James campaign, flatly called the Chamber's survey "Duggan's internal poll," which had "about as much credibility as Jocelyn Benson's voter rolls."

The Duggan campaign, however, was ecstatic, particularly after a Benson internal poll last week showed the former Mayor stalled out with 20 percent support.

Campaign manager Ed Duggan pointed to numbers in the poll that show 74 percent of voters are very or somewhat interested in voting for an independent governor.

"This is what a winning campaign looks like," Ed Duggan said. "We're filling town halls with people who are walking in skeptical and leaving convinced. We had dozens of people show up at noon, on a Thursday, in Munising, with a few feet of snow on the ground. Keep in mind, Munising only has 2,000 residents. Chances are, the whole town knew someone who was there. There's something special going on with this campaign."

In related news, the pro-Duggan SuperPAC "Put Progress First" is putting out a roughly $2 million ad this week and next, boosting its total spend to around $3.5 million, $600,000 short of Republican Perry Johnson's spend to date.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said that after a few rough weeks of headlines, Duggan's "wealthy allies" are "desperately trying to boost his flailing campaign."

Duggan's fundraising numbers last cycle were flat, a sign that he may not have the small donor base to keep his campaign afloat. A staff mistake on union endorsements that were premature also yielded negative headlines.

"The reality is the eventual Democratic nominee will be the only candidate who always puts Michigan first, while Duggan and the entire Republican field cater to (President) Donald Trump's disastrous health care cuts and economic chaos," Hertel said. "As voters tune in, we're confident we're going to elect another excellent Democratic governor to keep moving our state forward."

Other information from the Detroit Regional Chamber poll of note:

- 22.3 percent believe that Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C., can compromise, while 76 percent don't believe they can. Meanwhile, 45.1 percent believe that Republicans and Democrats in Lansing can compromise, while 50.6 percent don't believe they can.

- 49.6 percent of Michigan voters feel Michigan is on the right track, while 37.1 percent feel it's on the wrong track, which has stayed consistent for the past 18 months.

- 20 percent say they're doing better economically than they were a year ago; 24.6 percent say they're doing worse and 55.2 percent say they're about the same. These numbers have stayed consistent for the past year.

- Views on the economy are reflective of party affiliation, with 67.1 percent of strong Democrats and 69.2 percent of lean Democrats feeling the economy is receding, while 72.3 percent of strong Republicans and 58.5 percent of lean Republicans feel the economy is growing.

- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's approval rating is 52.1 percent, which is about where it's been since the end of the pandemic.

- Trump's approval rating is 41.8 percent, while his disapproval is at 53.6 percent.