Persistent economic troubles for Michigan also mean persistent political troubles for the state's chief executive.

Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm now leads Republican Dick DeVos 44% to 42%. This is the fourth straight Rasmussen Reports election poll of the race showing Granholm at 44%.

In fact, Granholm has not yet punctured the 50% level of support below which incumbents are considered vulnerable.

Back in January, we showed Granholm at her 2006 peak with 49% support. At the time, DeVoss had 38% support.

The son of Amway founder Richard DeVos was then unknown to 37% of the electorate. But in this notably expensive campaign the Republican has managed to boost his name recognition considerably. Now only 10% can't say whether they like him or not.

Twenty-one percent (21%) of voters have a “very” favorable opinion of Granholm while an equal number have a “very” unfavorable opinion. However, when we ask about her job performance, the picture is more bleak—19% Strongly Approve and 27% Strongly Disapprove. Those figures only look good in comparison to President Bush—47% of Michigan voters Strongly Disapprove of the way the President has performed his job.

Grahnolm’s challenger is viewed “very” favorably by 17% and “very” unfavorably by 19%.

Polling we've conducted for the Hudson Employment Index shows that 29% of Michigan workers are concerned about losing their jobs; 48% report worsening personal finances. Those figures are considerably worse than the national average and the lowest of any state measured for the Hudson Index.

Still, the governor has the advantage of presiding over a Democrat-leaning state, in which voters tend to trust Democrats more than Republicans on every major issue we polled about, including national security. On the pivotal issue of the economy, 52% trust Democrats more, only 36% trust the GOP more.

By most conventional measures, both candidates could be expected to lose this race. But, of course, only one can do so and we’re not likely to know which one for several months.

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