LANSING – Governor Rick Snyder has opened a wider lead on his Democratic opponent Mark Schauer with two weeks remaining in the election, a new poll shows.

Results released Tuesday by the Lansing firm of EPIC/MRA showed Snyder leading Schauer by 8 percentage points, 47 to 39 percent.

Democrats were quick to point out that poll was at odds with a survey released Monday that showed Mr. Snyder up by just 2 percentage points, as well as way above the average lead Snyder has had in polls tracked by the website Real Clear Politics.

But the Tuesday poll seemed consistent with a poll EPIC/MRA released at the end of September that showed Snyder up by 7 percentage points.

The poll was conducted of 600 likely voters via live telephone interviews from Friday to Sunday with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, and commissioned by the Detroit Free Press, WXYZ-TV, WLNS-TV and other stations. A total of 20 percent of the poll was conducted by cell phones.

The poll also showed that 42 percent of the persons questioned identified as Democrats, 37 percent as Republicans and 19 percent as independents.

In the poll, 11 percent of those asked said they were undecided about the gubernatorial race and 3 percent were backing other candidates.

Importantly for Snyder, the poll also showed that the governor had a 22 percent lead over Schauer with independents. That difference is important as both candidates have solid support within their parties.

And the poll also showed that 56 percent of those asked thought the state was headed in the right direction.

Schauer told reporters Tuesday that he sees no shift in momentum toward Snyder.

“I’m on track. I’ve run these tough races my whole career,” he said. “I’ve beaten two Republican incumbents in my time in tougher districts than this one. Michigan’s a blue state and the momentum is building. We’re perfectly positioned to win.”

And Schauer disputed the idea the race was slipping away.

“It is a jump ball race,” he said. “It could not be closer. There’s an incredible ground game that’s been talking to voters since June, incredible get out the vote efforts that are underway.”

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