Michigan

Heading into Harris-Trump debate, here’s what polls in Michigan and elsewhere say

Published

1 year ago

September 10, 2024

Heading into Harris-Trump debate, here’s what polls in Michigan and elsewhere say

Heading into Tuesday night’s first and potentially only presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Republican former President Donald Trump, the race couldn’t be tighter in Michigan.

Late last month, a Free Press poll showed Trump ahead by the slimmest of margins − 47% to 46% for Harris in a head-to-head matchup and well within the statewide survey’s plus or minus 4-percentage-point margin of error.

But you don’t have to take our word for it alone. Some polls have shown Harris ahead and others have had Trump leading in the race for the state’s 15 Electoral College votes which will help determine the winner of the Nov. 5 election. But virtually every poll done of Michigan since the Democratic National Convention ended last month has shown a razor-thin margin between the two, meaning the debate offers both a chance to attract some of the still undecided voters (that Free Press poll showed 7% undecided in the head-to-head matchup.)

For what it’s worth, nationally Harris appears to have a lead of anywhere from about 1% to 3% over Trump, but because of the way presidential elections are structured − with each state and Washington D.C. awarding a certain number of Electoral College votes, with 270 needed to become president − and most states’ results considered all but a foregone conclusion, in reality the outcome will come down to how voters in a handful of more evenly divided swing states, including Michigan, decide.

Here are the polling averages in Michigan according to several websites that track and aggregate polling data, as of Monday afternoon:

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Harris 46.7% (+1.9), Trump 44.8%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Harris 48.3% (+1.2), Trump 47.1%.

∎270towin.com: Harris 47.4% (+2), Trump 45.4%.

They’re different, by the way, because each site has its own methodology for which polls they aggregate and over what period of time but they’re generally a good bit in line with each other in terms of what voter surveys are showing.

And in Michigan, what they’re showing is a spread that is decidedly in too-close-to-call territory, especially given Trump’s knack for outperforming the polls. In 2020, for instance, Democratic President Joe Biden beat Trump by 2.8 percentage points in Michigan on his way to winning nationally, but polls on average had Biden ahead by more than 4 points going into Election Day. Four years before that, Trump won Michigan by two-tenths of a percentage point, even though polls on average had Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton ahead by more than 3 points on Election Day.

It’s a very similar story across the other handful of states − Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia − that will likely decide the race. Here’s what those polling averages look like in those states as of Monday, as well as the number of electoral votes each has and how each voted four years ago:

Pennsylvania (19 EC votes, 2020 result: Biden 50%-48.8% +1.2)

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Harris 46.5% (+0.7), Trump 45.8%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Harris 47.6% (tie), Trump 47.6%.

∎270towin.com: Harris 46.8% (tie), Trump 46.8%.

Wisconsin (10 EC votes, 2020 result: Biden 49.6%-48.9% +0.7)

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Harris 47.7% (+2.8), Trump 44.9%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Harris 48.7% (+1.5), Trump 47.2%.

∎270towin.com: Harris 48.4% (+2.8), Trump 45.6%.

Arizona (11 EC votes, 2020 result: Biden 49.4%-49.1% +0.3)

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Trump 46.1% (+0.4), Harris 45.7%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Trump 48.4% (+1.6), Harris 46.8%.

∎270towin.com: Trump 47.8% (+1.8), Harris 46%.

Nevada (6 EC votes, 2020 result: Biden 50.1%-47.7% +2.4)

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Harris 46% (+0.5), Trump 45.5%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Harris 48% (+0.6), Trump 47.4%.

∎270towin.com: Harris 48.2% (+1.4), Trump 46.8%.

North Carolina (16 EC votes, 2020 result: Trump 50%-48.7% +1.3)

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Trump 46.7% (+0.7), Harris 45.9%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Trump 47.9% (+0.7), Harris 47.2%.

∎270towin.com: Trump 47.5% (+0.5), Harris 47%.

Georgia (16 EC votes, 2020 result: Biden 49.5%-49.2% +0.3)

∎FiveThirtyEight.com: Harris 46.5% (+0.3), Trump 46.2%.

∎RealClearPolitics.com: Harris 48.3% (+0.1), Harris 48.2%.

∎270towin.com: Harris 47% (tie), Trump 47%.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

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Michigan

Woman accused of driving at the bottom of an Oakland County ski hill near guests

Published

4 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Woman accused of driving at the bottom of an Oakland County ski hill near guests

Nick Lentz

February 28, 2026 / 11:18 PM EST
/ CBS Detroit

A 58-year-old woman is accused of driving a vehicle at the bottom of a ski hill near skiers and snowboarders in White Lake Township, Michigan, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday.

Prosecutors allege the Bingham Farms, Michigan, woman drove near guests of Alpine Valley Ski Area, including children, on Tuesday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, witnesses said they saw the woman smoking what appeared to be marijuana before the incident and wearing ski boots while driving. Officers attempting to perform sobriety tests reported that she “exhibited poor balance, slurred speech, and open hostility.”

Online court records show the woman is charged with operating while impaired for the third time. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $5,000 and “mandatory vehicle immobilization” for one to three years, the prosecutor’s office said.

“This defendant endangered children with her irresponsible actions,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a written statement. “There is no excuse to drive impaired, even once. If you’ve had too much to drink or are under the influence of marijuana or other drugs, call a friend, call an Uber, just don’t drive.”

The woman is scheduled to appear at a probable cause conference on March 12.

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Michigan

First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

Published

16 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

A long-lost silent film that’s believed to be the first depiction of a robot in motion pictures was rediscovered in Michigan. And it’s a great reminder for film history fans that you shouldn’t give up hope just because a film has been deemed lost.

The film, titled “Gugusse and the Automaton,” is just 45 seconds long and was created in 1897 by French film pioneer Georges Méliès. It shows a magician named Gugusse turning a large crank to control Pierrot Automate, a child-sized robot. The robot grows bigger and bigger until it’s an adult.

Once full size, the robot does a little dance before hitting Gugusse over the head with a stick. Gugusse brings the robot down from his pedestal and then shows him what’s what.

Gugusse hits the robot over the head with a gigantic mallet, each swing making the mechanical man a little smaller until he’s back to his child-like size. Another swing makes the robot a small doll and then it’s just one more mallet slap before the robot disappears completely.

With that, the film is over.

It’s a short film with a goofy, slapstick premise. But it’s also an artifact that can be interpreted similarly to so much robot-focused media that would come later in the 20th century. The robot harms a human, the human needs to destroy the robot.

We see anti-robot stories pop up especially during difficult economic times, like the 1930s and 1970s, something I’ve written about before at length. And if you’re wondering whether there were hard economic times in France during the 1890s, there certainly were—in the form of a double dip recession, no less.

But putting aside the potential message of the film (and the risk of taking it too seriously as a sign of broader social frustrations), the story of how this film was rediscovered is fascinating.

Bill McFarland of Grand Rapids, Michigan, drove a box of films that belonged to his great-grandfather to the Library of Congress’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia so that experts could take a look at what he had.

McFarland’s great-grandfather was a man named William Delisle Frisbee who had worked jobs as a school teacher and a potato farmer in Pennsylvania, according to a blog post from the Library of Congress. But he also worked nights as a “traveling showman,” according to the Library.

“He drove his horse and buggy from town to town to dazzle the locals with a projector and some of the world’s first moving pictures,” the Library explains. “He set up shop in a local schoolroom, church, lodge or civic auditorium and showed magic lantern slides and short films with music from a newfangled phonograph. It was shocking.”

Frisbee died in 1937 and two trunks of his possessions were passed on through generations until they made their way to McFarland, who was unable to screen the movies from himself because of their condition.

The Library posted a video to Instagram talking about their acquisition of the film and how remarkable it is that such an old film was found. It’s estimated that as much as 90% of films made before 1930 are lost to history.

Other films in the trunks included another Méliès film from 1900 titled “The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match,” fragments of a Thomas Edison movie called “The Burning Stable.” Library technicians scanned the films in 4K to preserve them for future generations.

The word “robot” wasn’t coined until 1920 for the Czech play R.U.R. by Karel Capek. But visions of artificial men date back centuries. And it’s incredible to see a robot from the 1890s depicted on film for the first time. Even if it’s just 45 seconds long.

Don’t give up hope if you’re longing to watch some movie that’s believed to be completely lost. You never know what someone may have in a dusty old trunk in Michigan.

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Michigan

Michigan rolls past Illinois to win Big Ten title outright, boosting No. 1 seed hopes

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Michigan rolls past Illinois to win Big Ten title outright, boosting No. 1 seed hopes

Kylan Boswell (4) scored 15 points for the Illini but Yaxel Lendeborg (23) scored 16 in Michigan’s win. Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images

Feb. 27, 2026 11:17 pm EST

Michigan has left no doubt about Big Ten superiority — the No. 3 Wolverines’ 84-70 romp Friday at No. 10 Illinois gives them an outright conference championship with two regular-season games remaining.

The win gives Michigan its first outright title since 2021, and it’s another top-shelf win that gives Michigan (27-2, 17-1 Big Ten) a boost in its pursuit of the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed. This matters for the Wolverines because they would be lined up for a potential Final Four matchup with the No. 4 seed rather than either of the two teams that are also in contention for No. 1 — Duke, which beat Michigan last week to gain the inside track, and Arizona.

Friday’s lone meeting of the regular season between two purported national contenders left Michigan looking much the part, and Illinois looking a tier lower. This was domination, a comfortable second half for a Michigan team that led by as many as 21.

Michigan sophomore big man Morez Johnson Jr., who transferred from Illinois in the offseason, heard a lot of jeers from fans at State Farm Center and responded with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Big man Aday Mara also scored 19. Yaxel Lendeborg, the star of Michigan’s jumbo frontcourt, had 16 points and seven rebounds.

That interior helped the Wolverines to a 42-32 edge in points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Keaton Wagler had 23 points to lead Illinois (22-7, 13-5), which projected as a No. 2 seed in Tuesday’s Bracket Watch but has lost two straight games and four of six. The Illini are trending in the wrong direction and potentially heading to the three-line.

The No. 1 seed also gets to choose its tournament path, and Michigan has requested Philadelphia as its first-weekend site. Otherwise, the Wolverines will likely be placed in Buffalo, which is closer to Ann Arbor.

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Feb 28, 2026