Tag Archives: Mitchell Research & Communications

Republican Amash Challenged After Call For Impeaching President Trump

By Jim Ellis

Michigan Rep. Justin Amash (left) & Michigan state Rep. Jim Lower

May 22, 2019 — Michigan Rep. Justin Amash (R-Cascade Township/Grand Rapids) has just drawn a major Republican primary challenge, the announcement timing influenced because of his call for impeaching President Trump. Rep. Amash is the first Republican to make such a statement, and national Democrats were seizing upon his comment as a signal that bipartisan support for their desired action does exist.

After reading the Mueller Report, Rep. Amash publicly released a statement saying he is joining those in favor of impeachment. Taking action against his stand, state Rep. Jim Lower (R-Greenville) announced his congressional candidacy and released a Mitchell Research & Communications survey (April 30-May 1; 440 likely MI-3 Republican primary voters) to support his claim that the congressman would be vulnerable in a primary.

The poll finds that Amash would lead Lower, 44-23 percent in the initial ballot test. But, that is obviously not the damaging part for the congressman. When testing Trump among the Republican respondent sample, a full 92 percent say they strongly or somewhat approve of the president’s job performance. Therefore, it becomes reasonable to conclude that the overwhelming majority of these individuals, if not all of them, would oppose impeaching the president.

The questionnaire delved further into Rep. Amash’s record of largely being a thorn in the side of House GOP leadership, and generally opposing virtually every Republican policy initiative because of typically not being purely consistent with his more Libertarian Party-oriented beliefs.

Looking at the verbiage from the Mitchell poll questionnaire, the following paragraph is how they describe Rep. Amash:

“Justin Amash was elected to Congress 10 years ago. Amash has consistently voted against President Donald Trump on important issues, most recently against Trump’s declaration calling a national emergency on the Southern border.

Continue reading

New Michigan Data in Advance of Primary Day

A series of polls were just released in anticipation of Tuesday’s Michigan primary. The state features some of the most important establishment versus Tea Party races, and the results could have a definitive impact upon national politics.

MI-3

A new Strategic National poll (July 29; 532 likely MI-3 GOP primary voters) still finds Tea Party-backed Rep. Justin Amash (R) holding a healthy lead over primary challenger Brian Ellis (R), an area businessman, but each candidate’s ability to turn out his vote will likely be the determining factor. According to Strategic, Amash continues to lead Ellis 51-31 percent, a 20-point margin that has been relatively consistent. But the challenger has the stronger turnout mechanism, the backing of virtually the entire Republican establishment, and the Michigan Right to Life organization.

The 3rd District is anchored in the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Amash was first elected in 2010. Prior to running for Congress, he spent one term in the state  Continue reading >

Five Key States, Five Key Senate Races

Karl Rove’s right-of-center American Crossroads 527 political organization commissioned Harper Polling surveys in five US Senate campaigns, releasing the data at the end of last week. Though sample sizes and the surveying periods are not available, the ballot tests all appear to be in a range that are consistent with other published results.

In Arkansas, despite several other surveys projecting incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor (D) to be holding a slight lead, Harper shows the two candidates tied at 39 percent.

The Colorado numbers are consistent with virtually all other data that has come into the public domain. Harper posts a two-point race between Sen. Mark Udall (D) and newly nominated Republican Cory Gardner, the 4th District congressman. This poll gives Sen. Udall a 45-43 percent lead.

Though the Louisiana numbers have been close for some time, with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) typically leading but in the low 40s, the Harper data is the first to show  Continue reading >