A new poll shows that
expelled state representative Cindy Gamrat is running in second place among eight candidates in her
bid to regain her House seat.
This news follows on the
heels of a survey that showed her partner in crazy behavior, ex-rep Todd
Courser, is in third place in his effort to regain his seat after resigning
last month to avoid expulsion.
conclusion: The House GOP, and the Legislature in general, is stuck in last
place.
Despite all the efforts
by fellow Republicans to vilify these two disgraced lawmakers and portray them
as revolting representatives, GOP voters collectively still prefer Courser and
Gamrat over many of their competitors.
It appears unlikely that
either will win their respective special elections in November. Given the
manner in which they were summarily forced out of the House after just two days
of public hearings, their former colleagues clearly portrayed them as Public
Enemy No. 1 and No. 2. Yet a slice of the GOP electorate sees things differently.
month ago would have been that they would each be running in last place in
their desperate attempts to stay on the good side of the voters in the 80th
and 82nd Districts — both solidly Republican.
Much like Donald Trump’s
GOP frontrunner status for the ultimate office in the land has many establishment
Republicans shaking their heads in dismay, I suspect the Courser/Gamrat
mid-level polling strength is also generating some headaches among House
Speaker Todd Courser’s minions.
Insyght, found that former nurse and consulting firm co-founder Mary Whiteford has a solid early lead
in west Michigan’s 80th District, 31-14 percent. Gamrat is one percentage point ahead of Allegan County Commissioner Jim Storey.
Similar to the earlier October poll in the Courser
race conducted by the same trio of organizations, a certain slice of the
GOP electorate, 18
percent, said they would support the eventual Democratic nominee over Gamrat if
she were to win the nomination. In addition, nearly two-thirds said they would
support a third-party candidate or stay home rather than cast a general
election vote in March to return Gamrat to the House.
Gamrat
has a favorability rating of just 19 percent and many of her former
constituents believe she should not have forced her House colleagues to follow
through with the expulsion process. Some 22 percent said expulsion was the
proper outcome while 49 percent said she should have resigned.
82nd District of Lapeer County, Courser’s favorability ratings and
the number of Republicans who said they would vote Democratic or stay home
rather than put Courser back in the House were very close to the dismal
percentages associated with Gamrat in the newest poll.
Though
Courser is running third in an 11-candidate race, Target Insyght pollster Ed
Sarpolus declared the former rep “unelectable.”
Gamrat, Sarpolus said: “Much like Todd Courser, Cindy Gamrat’s
constituents just plain don’t like her. There is a complete lack of sympathy
among Republican primary voters for the alleged persecution Gamrat has been
through. Gamrat is able to garner the support of a strong majority of the
Republicans who say they like her — there just aren’t nearly enough of them.”
"I suspect the Courser/Gamrat mid-level polling strength is also generating some headaches among House Speaker Todd Courser’s minions."
That would be Kevin Cotter, Chad.