GUBERNATORIAL GUESSES
- Downtown Newsmagazine
- Aug 25
- 2 min read
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, running for Michigan governor in 2026 as an independent, is sucking out all of the air in the room with his recent fundraising haul and polling numbers. A recent Glengariff poll has him at 36 percent versus Democrat Jocelyn Benson at 33 percent and Republican Congressman John James from Macomb at 24 percent – in the metro Detroit area. But not everyone is convinced that Duggan will be the next governor of Michigan. One Republican strategist noted that it will be difficult for Duggan to gain a majority of votes in the general election. “He will do well in southeast Michigan, but he will pull numbers from the Democratic candidate, not the Republican,” noting that in 2022, then-candidate Tudor Dixon received just under 44 percent of the total votes to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 54.5 percent. “That’s the Republican base. They’re not going to Duggan,” the strategist said. A big question mark right now is if James becomes the nominee. “I don’t know anyone who likes John James,” said one top Republican. Another said, “James is good at with the D.C. crowd and money class. He likes to show up to ribbon cuttings.” “Trump may stay out of it (endorsing), which gives guys like Tom Leonard and Mike Cox hope,” said the first politico. Leonard, a former state Speaker of the House, is currently traveling around the state and “getting a great reaction from the grassroots,” said officials from the Leonard campaign, who noted that “Leonard is the only candidate who can help the Republican party merge its two factions because he actually has an in depth policy plan that he executed as Speaker. That is what we need now.” Some Republicans believe that if Leonard can get the nomination, there is a clear pathway for him to the governor’s mansion, while crowds are reacting to Cox “like an old fighter.” As for state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, some say fellow Republicans are unhappy with him that he took money from the leadership PAC that was targeted to regain the majority and has put it into his own personal campaign.
