Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on Thursday that she’s “nervous” about polls giving Vice President Kamala Harris a clear advantage over former President Donald Trump in the Great Lakes State.
Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Whitmer mentioned a CNN poll of battleground states that was released earlier this week that was very favorable toward Harris in Michigan and Wisconsin. According to the poll, Harris leads Trump 48% to 43% in Michigan and 50% to 44% in Wisconsin.
“It makes me nervous to see any poll that says there’s a five-point lead for Kamala Harris in Michigan now. It’s just not true,” Whitmer said, according to Fox News. “It’s gonna be a very close race. I believe we can win it. And I believe we wlll, but it’s gonna be very close.”
Whitmer incorrectly stated that the CNN poll didn’t take third-party and independent candidates into account. The latest CNN poll factored in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has dropped out — Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. None of them polled above 4% in Michigan.
“In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by 11,000 votes. Jill Stein was also on our ballot and earned more than 11,000 votes,” Whitmer said.
Kennedy has been polling the highest among independent and third-party candidates in Michigan, even after suspending his campaign. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said late last month that Kennedy had to remain on the Michigan ballot despite dropping out of the race. The Michigan Court of Appeals, however, ruled on Friday that Kennedy’s name should be removed from the Michigan ballot.
Judges in North Carolina also ruled in favor of Kennedy removing his name from the ballot. The independent candidate endorsed Trump last month and said he would seek to remove his name from ballots in battleground states where he could potentially act as a “spoiler.”
Whitmer discussed the unpredictable political direction of Michigan, saying, “I do think, you know, in Michigan over my lifetime, we take big swings. We’ve had 12 years of a Republican governor, and then we have term limits so eight years of a Democrat, then eight years of a Republican, then eight years of a Democrat. So it is a state that is notoriously kind of independent. We split our ticket a lot. And that’s who we are in Michigan.”
Trump won the state in 2016 over Hillary Clinton and lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Harris leads Trump in Michigan by just over 1 point.
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