Strategic National is not working for either candidate, said company CEO John YOB, who said MacMaster is in a “very strong position to win” due, in part, to strong TEA Party support from “vote-heavy” Antrim County.

“Schmidt’s margin in his base of Grand Traverse County is surprisingly small and he is losing every other county in this district,” Yob said. “Schmidt is in real trouble so we should expect to see him launch last-minute attacks to change the direction of this race.”

The results are slightly better than those of a poll conducted by conservative activist Jack HOOGENDYK, which had MacMaster up 45 to 19 percent in mid-June (See “Hoogendyk Poll Shows MacMaster Up In 37th,” 6/18/14).

The July 9 survey conducted by Strategic National included 69 percent Republicans, 26 percent independents or third party voters and 5 percent Democrats. All voters polled planned on voting in the GOP primary.

Gov. Rick SNYDER had a 77 percent favorable ranking among those polled. U.S. Senate candidate Terri Lynn LAND‘s favorable rating was 57 percent with 28 percent having no opinion or a neutral opinion.

MacMaster had a favorable rating of 47.55 percent compared to Schmidt’s 39.81 percent. Another 37.79 percent had no opinion or a neutral opinion of MacMaster. For Schmidt, 44.66 percent had no opinion or were neutral on him.