Jocelyn Benson Takes Significant Lead Over John James in Governor Race
A new Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media Michigan poll finds 48% of Michigan voters support Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, and 46% support Republican Mike Rogers for U.S. Senate. Four percent are undecided.
“There’s a substantial educational divide in the Senate race,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Voters without a four-year degree favor Rogers, 48% to 45%, while college graduates support El-Sayed, 53% to 42%.”
In the race for Governor, 49% support Democrat Jocelyn Benson, and 42% support Republican John James. Six percent are undecided. At this point, Benson leads James outside the poll’s margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
El-Sayed holds a 49% favorable rating among Michigan voters, while 44% view him unfavorably. Rogers holds a 42% favorable rating, while 46% view him unfavorably.
Benson holds a 47% favorable rating among Michigan voters, while 38% view her unfavorably. James holds a 38% favorable rating, while 43% view him unfavorably.
President Trump holds a 40% job approval among likely Michigan voters, while 55% disapprove of the job the president is doing in office. Term-limited Governor Whitmer’s approval is split: 45% approve and disapprove of the Governor, while 11% are neutral.
The economy is the top issue for Michigan voters at 47%, followed by healthcare (13%), threats to democracy (11%), and housing affordability, immigration, and education, respectively (7%).
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Michigan survey was conducted September 12-14, 2026. The sample of likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a probability-based panel of voters provided by Consensus Strategies using MMS text-to-web. Additional panel interviews were provided by PureSpectrum. The survey was hosted on QuestionPro.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
