In a midterm elections year that is largely dominated by the Republicans, Michigan is proving to be a favorable battleground for the Democrats with Representative Gary Peters solidly dominating the Senate race, polls released Wednesday show.

The results of the EPIC-MRA poll indicate that if the elections were held today, Peters, a former Michigan secretary of state, will easily win one seat for the Democrats in the Senate.

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Of the 600 likely voters surveyed from Oct. 17 to 19, 45 percent said they would vote for Peters, compared to the 34 percent who said they would put Republican Terri Lynn Land's name on the ballot.

In addition, polls compiled by the website FiveThirtyEight indicate that the Democrat has a 93 percent chance of winning.

The Detroit Free Press reported that the newest poll follows a consistent trend in which Peters has been ahead of his opponent since May.

With the average margin rising to 9.4 percent as Real Clear Politics calculation indicates, the GOP may as well abandon its hope for an election day upset.

In the early days of the campaign, pundits and Republicans had talked optimistically of how Land will be a game-changer for this year's midterm elections.

Apparently, the pattern her fellow Republican senatorial candidates have set across the country, as Mike Traugott of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan put it, are "trending in the wrong direction for her."

This in spite of the funds steadily pouring into Land's campaign.

According to the Detroit Free Press, she had spent at least US$2.9 million dollars from her own pocket, while outside groups have funneled at least US$15 million to her campaign ads.

With Peters' outside spending groups and allies pitching in a handsome US$17 million into the race, the Michigan campaign has now become the 7^th most expensive midterm Senate race in terms of outside dollars, reported the Huffington Post.

The Michigan race pits Peters against Land to replace retiring Sen. Carl Levin (D) who has held the position since 1979.

Tagspolitics, Gary Peters, FiveThirtyEight, Politics of the United States, Michigan, Democratic Party