[Update Aug. 4, 8:30 ET]
The Michigan primaries have now selected Democratic Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and Republican businessman Rick Snyder as the nominees in the race to succeed term-limited Dem Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
With 50% of precincts reporting, Bernero leads state House Speaker Andy Dillon by 59%-41%. In the Republican primary, Snyder has 36%, followed by Rep. Pete Hoekstra with 27%, state Attorney General Mike Cox with 23%, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard with 12%, and state Sen. Tom George with 2%.
The TPM Poll Average for the general election, based on pre-primary data, shows Snyder beginning the race ahead of Bernero by 44.6%-27.2%.
Snyder has marketed himself as a competent technocrat, pitching himself in his ads as “one tough nerd.” As the Detroit Free Press reports: “Snyder, who’s never run for elected office before and has spent nearly $6 million of his own money on his campaign, was banking on Democrats and independent voters to cross over to his side in an effort to upset the GOP establishment, which is largely behind Cox and Hoekstra. Free Press interviews with voters suggest some and perhaps many are doing so.”
Correction: In a previous version, this post incorrectly reported that Bouchard had 24% of the vote.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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