For those disgusted by the behavior of disgraced former
state representative Todd Courser, the idea that he is running third in the 11-candidate
special election field to regain his vacated House seat may seem repulsive.

But when political observers take a closer look, they
will find that the Lapeer area Republican is deemed “unelectable” by a new poll
in his 82nd District.

The survey, sponsored by Inside Michigan Politics, Grassroots
Midwest and Target Insyght, found that
Courser, who resigned last month in order to avoid House expulsion, is running third
behind Jan Peabody (20 percent) and Lapeer County ISD board
President Gary Howell (11 percent) in the November Republican primary. Courser
is tied for third with Ian Kempf, with 9 percent.

But the devil is in the details – a phrase that Courser,
the hypocritical family values candidate, would surely hate.

First, 21 percent of Republican primary voters in the
Thumb Area district told pollsters they would support the eventual Democratic
nominee over Todd Courser, if he somehow wins the GOP primary.

Second, another 47 percent said they would support another
candidate or simply stay home, should Courser secure the nomination. That seems
to presage a landslide loss for Courser in the March general election.

Third, Courser has a favorability rating of just 19
percent. But it gets worse. Fewer than half of poll respondents who view him
favorably would vote for him. 

“Tea party voters are splitting their support
between multiple candidates, leaving Jan Peabody alone in first just 30 days
out,” said Susan Demas, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.

“She’ll have the resources to increase that lead. Peabody
came within 300 votes of Courser in the 2014 primary, and already has the
support of the Dick DeVos-backed Great Lakes Education Project. I’d look
for more big endorsements soon.”

The 82nd House District encompasses all of Lapeer County,
and has a Republican base vote of 58 percent, according to Target Insyght data.
In a typical race, conventional wisdom would suggest that the Republican
candidate would safely win the general election. 

But Courser is nationally known for a sex scandal — cheating
on his wife with a fellow tea partier, expelled representative Cindy Gamrat —
and engaging in a bizarre cover-up based on gay sex, drugs and rocking Lansing’s
local bar scene.

Veteran pollster Ed Sarpolus, executive director of
Target Insyght, offers the proper perspective.

“The good news for Todd Courser is that
everyone’s heard of him – 95 percent name ID for a former state representative is
unheard of. The very bad news is that no one likes him,” Sarpolus said.

“Courser relentlessly courted media coverage during
the scandal, releasing colorful Facebook posts and doing national TV. It’s
clear that all the attention has come with a price — Courser now looks
unelectable in this field.”

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