From Tuesday, May 31 edition of MIRS
Majority Of GOP Voters Undecided In MI-1
With only nine weeks before the Aug. 2 primary, 55.5 percent of Republican voters in the northern Michigan-based 1st Congressional District are undecided in their preference to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dan BENISHEK (R-Crystal Falls), according to a MIRS-commissioned survey.
However, the crosstabs show the bulk of undecided votes are below the Mackinac Bridge. Casperson is beating Allen 53 to 5 percent in the Upper Peninsula with 41 percent undecided.
In the Lower Peninsula, 64 percent of the voters are undecided. Allen beats Casperson 23 to 7 percent with Berman at 6 percent among those with an opinion.
The survey has a 6 percent plus or minus margin of error. Ten percent of the calls were made to cell phones.
According to Dennis DENNO, the 1st Congressional District primary will be won on air.
“With the enormity of this district, whoever has more and better TV ads is probably going to win,” Denno said. “TV is going to rule this Congressional race.”
All three candidates have their own issues to overcome in the course of the upcoming primary.
For Casperson, it’s likely his vote for expanding Medicaid (See “Medicaid Expansion Clears Senate,” 8/27/13) and what appears to be a mixed record on voting for new Senate Capitol View offices, a project that’s become a political lightning rod.
On the building, Casperson defends his record as clearly being in opposition. There were two votes cast on the topic in the Michigan Senate. On the first go around, Casperson voted no. A second vote on the issue found Casperson voting yes.
The topic has become one he’s frequently asked about by northern Michigan outlets.
“I didn’t agree with the move and I still don’t,” he told MIRS on the topic. “On the second go around what we were stuck with was we’ve got two leases going on. So, do we want to eliminate this lease and carry it, and then carry the other one? So, it was costing us more, it was going to cost the state more money.”
For Allen, his biggest challenge may well be the recent audit of the Grand Rapids Veteran’s Home (See “Audit Pans Understaff Grand Rapids Vets Home,” 2/18/16). Allen was a deputy director of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs during the time the Auditor General was sniffing around the home.
As senior deputy director of the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, Allen said the agency had worked on addressing issues raised in the first audit. But prior to the lead up to the second audit, he was playing a different role that wasn’t an oversight role over the Grand Rapids home.
“When the department was reorganized, my job changed and my role changed to senior policy advisor,” Allen told MIRS. “I spent from the winter of 2013 onward getting veterans their benefits and working on policies.”
For Bergman, his greatest challenge is the fact that he spent the bulk of his life outside the district working in Washington D.C. not building a network in the 1st Congressional District. The retired Lieutenant General argued that is a strength, not a weakness in the race with Allen and Casperson.
“I would suggest to you that it was a plus,” Bergman told MIRS. “I wasn’t away from my home in Watersmeet because I wanted to be. I was serving [my country].”
Bergman is a former Navy aviator who served 40 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Prior to retiring, he oversaw a $1 billion budget and 100,000 people. His 1st Congressional bid marks the first time he’s run for public office.
That said, he argued he’s more prepared than either Allen or Casperson to navigate Washington D.C.
“I’ve already played in the majors,” Bergman said. “Albeit I was in a uniform, but in being a senior military leader, I was responsible for developing a budget that was just under a $1 billion a year.” He added that he’s testified before Congress and faced tough questions.
The 1st Congressional District has a GOP base of 55.1 percent according to Target Insyght. In 2014, Benishek took 52.1 percent of the general election vote. In 2012, he won re-election with 48.09.
MIRS did not poll in the Democratic primary, in which former Michigan Democratic Party chair Lon JOHNSON is a heavy favorite.
