The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●MI-Gov, MI-Sen: The Glengariff Group is out with their first general election survey of Michigan's big statewide races for the Detroit News andWDIV-TV, and they give Team Blue some very good news. Democrat Gretchen Whitmer posts a 50-36 lead over Republican Bill Schuette in the race for governor, while Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow leads Republican John James 56-33. A recent poll from the GOP firm Strategic National, which worked for the candidates Schuette and James beat in the primary, had Whitmer ahead 49-39 and Stabenow up 50-35, respectively.
These polls aren't the only sign that Republicans are having trouble in this competitive state. The Republican Governors Association notably cut $1.5 million in planned TV advertising last week; while they still have $5.6 million reserved, it makes sense that they'd redirect some money to more competitive races if they're not feeling good about Michigan.
One small bit of good news for Team Red is that termed-out Republican Gov. Rick Snyder posts a 46-47 approval rating in the Glengariff survey, which is considerably better than what he's posted in other polls. However, Snyder has loudly and repeatedly refused to endorse Schuette, so the governor may still be a big headache for him.