John James campaign, U.S. Senate
Republican Senate hopeful John James, left, and Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters has built a commanding lead over his Republican challenger John James with a week to go before the election, according to a new Detroit News-WDIV poll.
Peters, a first-term Democrat, held a 48.4%-38.8% lead over the Farmington Hills businessman in the Oct. 23-25 survey of 600 likely voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The nearly 10-point advantage comes a little more than two weeks after a New York Times/Siena College survey showed a much closer race, with Peters leading James 43% to 42%.
Both candidates have sunk so much money into the race that it’s projected to be the most expensive in Michigan history, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
Michigan is considered a must-win if Democrats are going to seize control of the Senate as a massive blue wave threatens to crush Republicans in state and federal races because of the boorish behavior of President Donald Trump.
James attended a Trump rally in Lansing on Tuesday.
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