Schauer (c) stands among AAPAC representatives at the offices of The Arab American News.

DEARBORN — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer said the race between himself and Gov. Rick Snyder is a “toss-up” and that he is reaching out to undecided voters to win the most important poll— at the polls on Nov. 4.

On Tuesday, the Detroit News and WDIV (Channel 4) released a poll stating that Snyder has an 8-point lead over Schauer. According to the poll, Schauer is trailing with 37 percent to Snyder’s 45 percent, while 15 percent of the 600 likely voters surveyed said they remain undecided. But the democratic candidate questioned these findings (which only add up to 97 percent). 

“It’s not an accurate poll,” Schauer told The Arab American News. “I can tell you from our own internal polling, plus two other polls conducted by well-regarded national pollsters, that the race could not be closer. We feel very good about where we are in this race.”

A poll by Real Clear Politics stated that the democratic candidate holds a 3-point lead  over Snyder among women voters. 

Schauer, a former state legislator and U.S. representative, visited The Arab American News offices on Wednesday to meet with representatives of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) and seek their endorsement. 

Snyder met with AAPAC officials for the same reason two weeks ago. 

The democratic candidate said he is pleased with the progress of his campaign.

“We started 16 months ago relatively unknown,” Schauer said. “We were trailing. Nobody thought we had a chance to win. Our message of restoring Rick Snyder’s education cuts, providing tax cuts for middle class families and ending the Snyder pension tax and supporting businesses to create jobs here is in the best interest of Michigan.”

He added that he will be pushing hard in the campaign’s final four weeks to persuade undecided voters and increase the turnout. He said his campaign has the momentum in the race because Michiganders are disappointed with Snyder’s policies. 

The democratic candidate also said Michigan is still suffering economically, despite Snyder’s assertions of recovery.

“This is a governor who is out of touch with reality,” Schauer said. “Rick Snyder’s economy may work for the wealthy and the well-connected. It may work if you’re a corporation, or one of his employees who got an 80-percent pay raise, or his cousin who got a $41-million furniture contract [from the state]. But average Michiganders, Rick Snyder’s economy is not working for them. The fact is we have the fifth worst unemployment rate in the country. We are one of the few states that haven’t recovered all the jobs lost in the Great Recession. That’s why we need a change.”

A recent ad by Snyder’s campaign slammed Schauer for his vote on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when he was in Congress. “To pay Obamacare, Mark Schauer and other career Washington politicians voted to slash funding for Medicare by $700 billion,” says an older actress in the ad. 

Schauer defended his vote on the act, which bans insurance companies from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. He said 800,000 Michiganders now have insurance because of the ACA.

He also said the reduced funding to Medicare is not a cut, but savings caused by rooting out fraud and stopping insurance companies from overcharging patients. He said Medicare is “stronger and more solvent” because of the ACA.

“Rick Snyder supports the Affordable Care Act, too— the expansion of Medicaid,” Schauer said. “I made sure that every Michigander has access to affordable quality healthcare. One of the biggest reasons why I voted for the Affordable Care Act was to secure Medicare for seniors and close the prescription drug donut hole. This governor’s policies have actually hurt seniors. He’s raised taxes on pensions and raised property tax.”