In a new poll released today by the DCCC, Macomb County prosecutor Suzanna Shkreli is well within striking distance of freshman Congressman Mike Bishop in Michigan’s 8th District. This is impressive not only for a first-time candidate, but also for a challenger who only announced her campaign in July 2016.
Shkreli trails Bishop by a mere 6 points (41% to 47%), with 11% of the electorate undecided. Shkreli enjoys double-digit leads among both modeled Independents and young voters – and 25% of modeled Republicans.
Michiganders in the 8th District also prefer Democrats to Republicans: Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 7 points in a three-way vote and by 6 points in a two-way vote, and voters prefer a generic Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican one.
Furthermore, there is every reason to believe that Shkreli’s standing will only improve, as these results come before leaked Access Hollywood audio revealed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump making lewd and suggestive comments about women, and before more recent allegations that Trump made inappropriate sexual advances toward many other women. A recently-released DCCC online survey conducted after both of these events found that the political environment appears to be shifting in the favor of Democrats. These results are consistent with other public polling released since the debate.
Since Trump continues to be extremely unpopular in the district, with 62% of voters holding an unfavorable view of him, we can only expect Democrats to continue to do better up and down the ballot, which will lift Suzanna Shkreli up to victory.
“It’s clear that Suzanna Shkreli is running a very competitive campaign, and is well within striking distance of taking out Congressman Mike Bishop and winning the seat for Democrats in November,” said Sacha Haworth of the DCCC. “Mike Bishop’s continued support for Donald Trump, despite more allegations that Trump is a sexual predator, makes him more vulnerable with every passing day.”
Read the full poll memo here.