Tudor Dixon's Chances of Beating Whitmer as Trump Rallies in Michigan

Polling in Michigan's gubernatorial race shows incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer leading GOP challenger Tudor Dixon, as former President Donald Trump is slated to visit the state for a campaign rally on Saturday.

Trump is scheduled to stump for Dixon, as well as Michigan's GOP candidates for secretary of state, Kristina Karamo, and attorney general, Matthew DePerno, who have all been endorsed by the former president and will speak at the event.

FiveThirtyEight, which compiles and analyzes polls, shows Whitmer with a 12 point lead in the race. Her overall polling average is 51.6 percent compared to Dixon's 40 percent.

The latest poll in the race, released by the Trafalgar Group on Friday, shows Whitmer with the support of nearly 51 percent of voters, and Dixon with just over 45 percent. The poll surveyed 1,075 people between September 24 and September 28 and has a margin of error of 2.9 percent.

Responding to the latest poll, Sara Broadwater, Dixon's communications director, told Newsweek: "We are right in striking distance, with the latest polling today showing us down less than 6 points from Gretchen Whitmer despite her and her allied groups spending more than $23M+ attacking Tudor."

In an emailed statement to Newsweek, Dixon said that the "latest polling numbers prove what we already know to be true - Gretchen Whitmer is vulnerable, the momentum is on our side, and our message is resonating with Michigan voters."

Newsweek has reached out to the Whitmer campaign for comment.

Another poll, commissioned by the Detroit Free Press, recently found Whitmer with a 16 point lead. The incumbent governor had the support of 55 percent of voters, while Dixon had the backing of 39 percent. That poll, which surveyed voters between September 15 and September 19, has a 4 percent margin of error.

Recent polling also shows Democrats leading the Republican candidates in Michigan's attorney general and secretary of state races.

The poll released by the Trafalgar Group on Friday found that when it comes to the secretary of state race, the poll shows incumbent Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson leading Karamo 49.6 percent to 44.8 percent. In the attorney general's race, incumbent Dana Nessel had 48.2 percent and DePerno had 45.4 percent.

In addition, the Detroit Free Press poll shows Benson leading Karamo 51 to 37 percent and Nessel ahead of DePerno 48 to 39 percent.

"There's just going to be a real uphill battle for them, especially when the top of the ticket is running as strong as (Gov. Gretchen) Whitmer is and it's starting to have an impact down the ballot," Bernie Porn, the president of EPIC-MRA, the company that conducted the poll, said of the GOP candidates for secretary of state and attorney general in an interview with the Free Press.