Casperson, Allen and Chatfield Lead Race To Replace MI Congressman

First year State Rep. Lee Chatfield poses with his daughter at a PLanned Parenthood protest. The political newcomer is hot on the tail of two veteran former State Senatos in the race for the GOP nomination in Michigan's 1st Congressional District.

Michigan Congressman Dan Benishek announced his retirement from Congress in 2016 earlier this week, and the first poll in the race is already out.

According to MIRS, a subscription-based Michigan news outlet, former State Senators Jason Allen and Tom Casperson lead the pack in Michigan’s First Congressional District GOP Primary while political newcomer State Rep. Lee Chatfield is third with around 10%.

Poll results:

Former State Sen. Tom Casperson: 26.7%

Former State Sen. Jason Allen 19.1%

State Rep. Lee Chatfield: 9.3%

Others include:

State Rep. Peter Pettalia: 7.4%

GOP Activist Alan Arcand: 6.2%

The race in MI-1 should be a great one to watch in the weeks and months ahead. It was already a competitive district before Benishek’s retirement, now it’s a free-for-all.