Republican nominee Mike Rogers and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed are nearly tied in the Michigan Senate race, according to an Aug. 20 poll by AARP.
El-Sayed, a progressive public health official, led President DonaldTrump-backed former U.S. Rep. Rogers by one point in the polling, which also showed that voters ages 50+ preferred Rogers. AARP polled over 850 likely Michigan voters between Aug. 9 and Aug.11 with a bipartisan polling team.
"When drilling down into older swing voters specifically — the segment of the Michigan electorate who are not straight-ticket Republican or Democratic voters — Rogers enjoys an even wider advantage, leading El-Sayed by 33 points," explained AARP's Miriam Cross in a release about the poll.
A separate AARP article
about the poll pointed to older voters being more likely to actually cast vote: "Eighty-six percent of voters age 50-plus say they are extremely motivated to vote, compared with 71% of voters under age 50," wrote AARP's Kate Bridges.
Of all likely voters, El-Sayed led Rogers 48 percentage points to 47 percentage points. With voters ages 50+, Rogers took a nine-percentage point lead over El-Sayed at 52% to 43%.
"That all suggests that older voters, especially the 14 percent who are not straight-ticket voters, could decide the outcome for candidates in the November midterms," Cross said. "This bloc is more likely to vote, and in larger numbers than other generations."
The gubernational race in the state told a similar story with an overall Democrat lead, but a Republican lead amongst the 50+ population.
Democratic nominee Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson edged Republican nominee U.S. Rep. John James by five percentage points, with 49% of polled voters preferring Benson and 44% preferring James. When it came to older voters, James had a one percentage point lead with 48%, compared to Benson's 47%.
Michigan voters in the poll largely disapproved of Trump, who sat with a 41% approval versus 56% disapproval. Among the older 50+ group, that negative rating stood at slimer margins, with a 47% approval rating compared to 51% disapproval.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dems lead overall in Michigan, but GOP winning 50+ voters, new poll
