John James has early lead in Michigan's GOP race for governor, survey finds
LANSING, Mich. - U.S. Rep. John James has maintained an early lead in the race to be the Republican nominee for governor, amid a surge in spending by businessman Perry Johnson, according to a new poll of likely Michigan GOP primary voters released Tuesday.
The phone survey of 500 likely voters, commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber, found 37% of participants supported James, a second-term congressman and former U.S. Senate candidate, 20% backed Johnson, 10% preferred former Attorney General Mike Cox and 7% picked state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt.
Former state House Speaker Tom Leonard, who dropped out of the race on Thursday, got 3%, and longtime Pastor Ralph Rebandt received 1%. The rest of the likely GOP primary voters surveyed, about 23%, said they wanted someone else or were undecided.
The poll was conducted by the Glengariff Group on April 21-24. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Its release came less than 100 days before the Aug. 4 primary election and after Johnson's campaign spent more than $10 million on TV commercials. Johnson of Bloomfield Hills, who made his fortune developing quality controls for the auto industry, announced his campaign for governor on Jan. 26.
Michigan's current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, can't run for reelection because of term limits.
A similar poll of likely Democratic primary voters, sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber and also released Tuesday, found Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson with a commanding lead for the Democratic nomination for Michigan's top political office.
Among participants in that survey, Benson had 66% of the support, while Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson got 8%. The others, about 26%, were undecided or picked someone else, according to the Democratic primary voter poll conducted by Glengariff Group April 17-19.
The two polls only surveyed likely primary voters. They did not look at potential general election matchups, including the independent candidacy of former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
The Detroit Regional Chamber has endorsed Duggan's bid to be governor.
_____
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 11:54 AM.