Results of a recent poll show Congressman Mike Bishop narrowly out in front of his main challenger with just about a month until the election.

A release from the Bishop campaign Thursday pointed to a New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll that has the Republican incumbent ahead of Democrat Elissa Slotkin 47 to 44%. Bishop won the district by 17 points in 2016. The poll was conducted with 501 respondents from September 28th through Wednesday and was termed “a decent result for Republicans” by the organizers. Bishop’s campaign said he continued to lead Slotkin “in every independent poll conducted and the poll almost identically matched poll results” they released last week. Consultant Stu Sandler said they are “confident that the voters in the 8th district will re-elect him,” adding that, “Public records show that the NRCC, America First Action, and other conservative groups have more than $5 million committed to Mike Bishop in the 8th district campaign.”

That follows last week’s news that the Congressional Leadership Fund had pulled more than $2 (m) million that had been set aside for television air time in Michigan to help defend Bishop after disappointing polling results. Sandler insisted the campaign’s internal polling has the Congressman in the lead and that Bishop, “will continue to work to win this race and continue to represent the district where he has grown up and raised his family.”

In response, Slotkin spokesperson Laura Epstein told WHMI, “Our internal poll shows Elissa Slotkin leading, and all of the recent polls are within a margin of error, showing this race in a dead heat. We're glad that Elissa Slotkin’s bipartisan record of national security service and commitment to bringing a mission-focus to Congress are resonating with voters across the political spectrum, and we're confident that will bear out at the ballot box in November. People are tired of career politicians like Rep. Mike Bishop who vote in the interest of their corporate donors at the expense of Michigander voters, and they’re ready to elect a new generation of leaders to Congress.”

Also running for the seat is Libertarian Brian Ellison and David J. Lillis of the U.S. Taxpayer Party of Michigan. (JK)