Gov. Rick Snyder, campaigning as “one tough nerd,” was one of the big GOP winners in the 2010 campaign cycle, winning by 18 percentage points in a storied blue state. For that reason, he’s also a top target for national Democrats.
At the urging of the new GOP-controlled state Legislature, he reluctantly signed right-to-work legislation in 2012, a move that ensures that organized labor also will be highly motivated to work against him.
So far, he has been unable to put much distance between himself and his Democratic rival, former US Rep. Mark Schauer, who lost his seat in the GOP wave that elected Snyder. Snyder has maintained a slight lead in the polls, now averaging 2.8 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.
