LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) -The race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination is now a three-way tie among conservative commentator Tudor Dixon, business executive Kevin Rinke, and Ryan Kelley, according to a new MIRS-commissioned poll conducted by Mitchell Research & Communications.
The poll released Thursday shows Dixon and Rinke tied at 15%, with Kelley favored by 13% of those surveyed.
Chiropractor Garrett Soldano came in fourth at 8% with the Rev. Ralph Rebandt coming in fifth with 3% in the poll of 588 likely Republican voters conducted Tuesday and Wednesday.
The survey comes a week after EPIC-MRA released June 10-13 polling that showed Kelley at 17%, Soldano at 13%, Rinke at 12% and Dixon at 5%.
According to the MIRS news service, the race recently shifted with Dixon obtaining the endorsement of the powerful DeVos political family, Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. That, combined with a roughly $225,000 network ad buy in the Detroit media market for the last week, have caused her numbers to rise, according to Steve Mitchell of Mitchell Research & Communications.
The ad, paid for Michigan Families United, says Dixon is a “Michigan mom on a mission” who “will stand up to wok indoctrination of our kids.” It also has her pictured with President Donald Trump. The Rinke campaign’s ad on the zombie voting for Democrats is also running across Michigan.
Meanwhile, the network ad spend for Whitmer in the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing media markets between her campaign and two independent committees between now and the end of the General Election campaign season is up to $20 million, according to information provided to MIRS.
Rinke announced Thursday he has received an endorsement from rock and roll conservative and hunter Ted Nugent.
