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Tap a state, a sticky note or a race in the list. Colour is the current On Point average: pale when close, deep when safe.

KeySafe DLikely DLean DToss upLean RLikely RSafe RLean IDrawing the map
Every race32
Below the lineMichigan: Benson vs. JamesBenson+8.132 polls
2026 governor

Michigan governor average

Benson vs. James. Benson leads by 8.1 points in the On Point average of 32 public polls: a robust LOWESS fit through every poll, weighted by a 15.8 day recency half life, sample size, voter screen and pollster grade, with three bisquare passes that weigh down outliers.

32 polls26 pollstersUpdated Oct 18, 202630 days −0.6Forecast D +12.3 · open the racePublic JSON
Benson50.5
MarginBenson+8.1
James42.4
Newest 30 polls
The average over time
30%35%40%45%50%55%60%MayJunJulAugSepOct50.5Benson42.4James
The line is the On Point average: a robust LOWESS fit through the polls, weighted by recency, sample, voter screen and pollster grade, refit three times so outliers count for lessDot size is each poll's weight todayHover or use the arrow keys to read any day

What moves the average today

Share of today's weight
On Point PollingOct 18 · 518 LV · Gold15%Benson+11.8
Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw & CompanySep 28 · 1,028 LV · A++14%Benson+9.0
Marist UniversityOct 18 · 1,025 LV · C12%Benson+6.0
Emerson CollegeSep 14 · 1,000 LV · Gold11%Benson+7.0
The Washington Post/SSPGSep 14 · 803 LV · A+9.5%Benson+12.0
New York Times/Siena UniversitySep 22 · 605 LV · Gold8.9%Benson+5.0
YouGovOct 4 · 3,949 LV · C6.8%Benson+3.0
Cygnal (R)/Beacon Research (D)Sep 21 · 600 LV · Gold6.7%Benson+7.0
Every other poll together: 16%

Each poll's weight is its sample size, voter screen, pollster grade and age, with a 15.8 day half life, and those weights are the kernel of a robust LOWESS fit: a local line read at the day itself, with three bisquare passes that weigh down any poll far from the rest. No single poll can carry more than 15 percent. Gold Standard pollsters, On Point Polling, Big Data Poll, The Honest Poll, Emerson, Cygnal, Quantus Insights, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, carry the top grade. Rasmussen Reports and ActiVote are not counted. Trafalgar and InsiderAdvantage are marked Lean R and Impact Research Lean D. The tables show every poll as published; the average counts a lean firm's poll moved the other way by its measured lean against other polls of the same races, and the chart shows that move as a hollow dot for the poll as published joined to the filled dot the average counts: Trafalgar 3.8 points right over 35 polls, InsiderAdvantage 4.6 points right over 42 polls, Impact Research 0.0 points left over 0 polls.

All polls

32 of 32
On Point averageOct 18, 202632 polls50.542.4Benson+8.1100%
On Point PollingGoldOct 18, 26518LV5139Benson+11.815.5%
Marist UniversityCOct 18, 261,025LV5145Benson+6.011.6%
YouGovCOct 4, 263,949LV4845Benson+3.06.8%
Mitchell Research for CBS DetroitB+Oct 1, 26682LV4639Benson+7.03.4%
Z to A Research for Rust Belt Rising (D)NROct 1, 26483RV5040Benson+10.00.4%
Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw & CompanyA++Sep 28, 261,028LV5445Benson+9.014.3%
NPR/MaristCSep 27, 261,200RV5341Benson+12.01.2%
Guidant Polling & StrategyNRSep 27, 26800LV5045Benson+5.05.8%
Marist UniversityCSep 27, 261,235RV5341Benson+12.00.9%
co/efficient (R)C+Sep 23, 26843LV4744Benson+3.01.2%
New York Times/Siena UniversityGoldSep 22, 26605LV4843Benson+5.08.9%
Cygnal (R)/Beacon Research (D)GoldSep 21, 26600LV4538Benson+7.06.7%
Voter sample
Benson+8.1
32 polls in the average