Poll: 3rd District race within 9 points

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A new EPIC-MRA poll shows the race to replace Vern Ehlers is tighter than previous races in Michigan's 3rd Congressional District.

Republican Justin Amash leads Democrat Patrick Miles by nine points, 46-37. Another 8% may vote for a third-party candidate, and the remaining 9% are undecided.

The poll of 3rd District voters (Kent, Ionia and Barry counties) was conducted between Oct. 16-19, 2010, and has a margin of error of 4.9%.

Both Amash and Miles have solid support among those who said they would vote for that particular candidate, with 85% ruling out voting for Amash and 83% ruling out voting for Miles.

The poll also revealed how 3rd District voters view the other statewide races, with Republicans leading in all three.

Rick Snyder holds a 54-29 lead over Virg Bernero in the governor's race. In the Secretary of State race, Ruth Johnson leads Jocelyn Benson 42-26, and in the race for Attorney General, Bill Schuette leads David Leyton 45-29.

In each race, third-party candidates garnered 7-9% support.

The state's economy had a split among respondents, with 47% believing it will stay about the same over the next year while 37% said it will improve. Only 9% believe it will get worse.

Fully 97% of respondents said there was no one in their house that was a Tea Party member, though 41% support the movement and 36% oppose it.

By a margin of 57-38, respondents said they were pro-life versus pro-choice.

And in the self-identification question, 48% said they were Republican and 37% said they were Democrats.

The EPIC-MRA poll was conducted for WOOD TV8 and our broadcast partners.

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The EPIC-MRA poll of 3rd Congressional District

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