Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) has a slight lead over Republican candidate and former Chief of the Detroit Police Department James Craig in the race for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
A new EPIC-MRA poll shows Slotkin with a 1-point advantage over undeclared challenger Craig, with 40% of respondents saying they would back Slotkin and 39% backing her opponent. Twenty-one percent of voters were undecided or refused to make a selection.
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Slotkin ranked higher in favorability among respondents, polling at 19% of “total favor,” with Craig holding 16%.
Among the poll of 600 likely November 2024 voters, 53% had never heard of Slotkin, and 57% had never heard of Craig.
Slotkin, a sitting congresswoman representing the Lansing area, launched her Senate run in February, saying Michigan needs “a new generation of leaders that thinks differently” and “works harder.”
Craig has not made a decision on whether to launch a 2024 Senate bid, saying he does not have a set timeline for the race.
“I’m giving some consideration to it,” Craig told the Detroit News. “I’ve not made a decision, so I’m not going to say I’m going to do it.”
Last month, Stabenow, the 72-year-old senator, said she would not seek reelection in 2024, telling WNEM she hopes to “pass the torch to the next generations of young leaders.” Stabenow served two terms in the House and became Michigan’s first female senator in 2001.
Other candidates vying for Stabenow’s open seat include two declared Republicans.
State Board of Education member and registered nurse Nikki Snyder cast her Senate bid in February, and businessman Michael Hoover joined the race last month.
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Former Democratic state Rep. Leslie Love, who represented Michigan for six years, is the fourth Democrat to launch a campaign. Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun and attorney Zack Burns of Ann Arbor are other blue-party candidates in the running.
“We all know America is going through something right now. We seem to be living crisis to crisis, but there are certain things that should be really simple,” Slotkin said in a video announcing her run, pointing to a change in leadership.