Poll Shows 58 percent believe a conviction is likely while 57 percent want Governor to Remove Mayor from Office

LANSING, Mich. — As the fate of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick remains in question, many Michigan residents have given a dismal prediction for the embattled leader. More than half of Michigan voters – 58 percent – believe Mayor Kilpatrick will likely face a felony conviction compared to only 19 percent who believe he will not.

 This according to the most recent Rossman Group/MIRS/Denno-Noor statewide survey.  “This is a hot button issue that not only Detroit voters, but voters across the state feel strongly about,” said Kelly Rossman-McKinney, CEO of The Rossman Group. 

According to the results, 28 percent of Michigan residents believe Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is very likely to be convicted of a felony, with 30 percent of voters responding he will likely be convicted.   Only 14 percent said a conviction was not likely, with 5 percent believing the mayor will definitely not be convicted. 22 percent were unsure, or did not know, and one percent responded “other”.

The question was worded as follows:

“How likely is it that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will be convicted of a felony? Is he very likely, likely, not likely, or definitely not going to be convicted of a felony?”

“The data is relatively stable across age, gender and political affiliation,” said Denno-Noor President Dennis Denno. “That kind of consistency across demographics really adds weight to the public’s opinion.”

As previously reported in MIRS Capitol Capsule 57 percent of Michigan voters believe Governor Jennifer Granholm should remove Mayor Kilpatrick from office as requested by the Detroit City Council.
“Interestingly, 51 percent of Detroit voters said Mayor Kilpatrick was likely or very likely to be convicted of a felony, but only 27 percent of Detroiters wanted the governor to remove him from office,” Said MIRS President John Reurink.  “This indicates the mayor still maintains some of his most loyal supporters within the City of Detroit.”

Methodology:
This survey was part of the Rossman Group/MIRS/Denno-Noor Quarterly Survey of statewide voters. Six hundred respondents were surveyed between May 17 and May 21, and the participation was stratified based on census data and past voter behavior. A screen was employed to include only those participants who said they intended on voting, either at the polls or by absentee ballot, in the November 2008 election.  The margin of error is plus/minus 4 percent.

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