Exclusive FOX 2 polls show tight race in District 11
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By Maurielle Lue, Fox 2 News -
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -
Exclusive FOX 2 News polls from Foster McCollum White and Baydoun shows things are heating up in Michigan, once again a battleground state in the race for the White House. That's also turning out to be a fact in a sleepy Metro Detroit district that could change the landscape of Congress.
Pollster Tarek Baydoun said," this identified as a pick up opportunity for Democrats. The district is 50/50 on demographics favoring Republicans and Democrats. And yet we see a 9 point spread with an individual that people know very little about. Kerry Bentivolio.
District 11 that includes Canton, Novi and Livonia was vacated by disgraced Congressman Thaddeus McCotter.
Polls show Tea Party Republican Kerry Bentivolio, not endorsed by any major Republican establishment and a virtual stranger to voters, is now leading the polls by 9 points.
Baydoun said, " he's refused to do public interviews, he does not put his positions out there, they are all over the board, and he owns reindeer farm.
Foster McCollum, White and Baydoun asked voters who would they vote for today. Republican Kerry Bentivolio or the Democratic candidate, Canton Trustee Dr. Syed Taj.
47 percent said Bentivolio, 39 percent said Dr. Taj, and the rest voting other or undecided. When asked which candidate would address women's issues such as equal pay and access to health care and education, 41 percent say Bentivolio, 33 percent vote Dr. Sayed Taj. Voters in District 11 give Republicans credit for positive changes in the economy. Our pollsters say that could become a problem for Taj.
"People don't feel comfortable with him on foreign policy a lot of people couldn't explain why. I suspect his religion could be playing a factor unfortunately," Baydoun said.
If elected Taj would be the first ever Muslim elected from Michigan, but the doctor tells FOX 2 his religion won't matter to the voters and he's ready to work on both sides of the aisle. "My ideology is I will work with everyone, Democrat, Republican it doesn't matter, I'm afraid that the person I'm running against is an invisible man and people have to be aware of him.
Shifting to the race for president, the polls show the last debate had little impact on voters.
"Obama's foreign policy was mimicked by Mitt Romney and Governor Romney made a calculation that as long as I'm OK on foreign policy, I can make the debate about the economy and that was as genius move by the Romney campaign." In Michigan its going to come down to the wire like 2000 or 2004, not 2008. And it's going to be about which party can turn out their base," Baydoun said.
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