Michigan's Attorney General Race Is a Coin Flip
With the race at a standstill, a quarter of likely voters still can't pick between the two county prosecutors
Who's running for attorney general in Michigan? If you asked the average Michigander on the street, they’d have no idea. Maybe they’ve heard of John James or Jocelyn Benson as they fight over the cushy governor’s office in the Lansing Capitol building. But few, apart from the political junkies, have heard of Eli Savit or Doug Lloyd.
Turns out, the polls basically say the same thing. A Cygnal poll of 600 likely voters, conducted for Michigan Enjoyer Sept. 18–21, has Democrat Eli Savit at 39% and Republican Doug Lloyd at 37%. That's a coin flip.
Another 24% of voters are undecided, more than double the share still on the fence in the governor's race (11%) or the Senate race (13%). Undecided, for a race like this, basically means respondents said: “Who?”
These aren’t people agonizing over the race, deeply pondering the issues. These are voters who simply haven't heard of either of these guys, running for a functionary office listed far down the ballot.
Most of them will vote their party, in the end, or fill out the straight ticket ballot. In a close race, this bodes well for Eli Savit, who surely hopes to ride on Jocelyn Benson’s coattails to victory.
The thing is, what happens when voters actually meet Eli Savit?
Savit is the Washtenaw County prosecutor, a far-left reformer who pushed a slew of progressive agenda items during his tenure. He ended cash bail, and stopped prosecuting prostitution and psychedelic mushroom laws. The Ann Arbor crowd loves it, but how will this play in the rest of the state?
In June we reported on a man who hog-tied a woman and suffocated her with a plastic bag, and walked away with probation from Savit's office. He was later charged with shooting a mother during a carjacking in Orion Township.
Doug Lloyd said the case "demonstrates the failures of progressive 'criminal justice reforms.'" Even Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, a Democrat, criticized the decision.
Lloyd presents the opposite scenario, a tough-on-crime prosecutor with 30 years of experience. He's running on enforcing the law and locking up violent criminals.
He's also got a running mate of sorts in Secretary of State nominee Anthony Forlini, in what we've dubbed Michigan's best political bromance. Forlini's race is nearly as tight, down 41–38 to Garlin Gilchrist.
With a tight race still very much in contention, Lloyd doesn't need to win a popularity contest. He just needs to make sure that the 24% of voters who haven’t heard of him or his opponent, hear enough about Eli Savit’s record to turn up their noses at the ballot box, despite the top of the ticket races all currently favoring the Democrats.
Savit, on the other hand, would do well to avoid the limelight and just let the Democratic straight-ticket voters give him the boost he needs. We’ll see if that’s enough to split the difference come Election Day.
