6 News is releasing some exclusive statewide polling data tonight confirming that the race for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats is a dead heat.

That’s bad news for the Democrats and good news for the Republicans.

That “oh, oh” you hear from the Democratic camp of U.S. Senator Gary Peters is that, in one week, two polls are out showing his race against Republican challenger John James is a statistical dead heat and for an incumbent to be in that spot one year before the election is hardly good news.

In the Vanguard, Dennis, Pubic Sector Consultant poll last May it was Mr. Peters 42% and a generic Republican 36%. It is now 39.5% for Mr. Peters and 39.3% for Mr. James.

The race today is a toss-up.

At this point in the campaign last year when Senator Debbie Stabenow took on Mr. James, she had a comfortable lead.

But he closed the gap on her and now she is saying, “this is a make or break race and we’re at a critical moment.”

She notes Mr. James raised more money than Mr. Peters in the third quarter but Peters continues to have more money in his coffers than the challenger.

The Democrats are banging the drum to link Mr. James to the problems President Trump has.

They are showing a photo of Mr. James with Rudy Giuliani and a Ukrainian businessman charged by the Feds with campaign finance violations.

Mr. James has said he will be his own man as he tried to mute the Democratic attacks.

And does Mr. James have to distance himself from the president? His consultant says no.

“Absolutely not,” said Jamie Roe.

Skubick: “But the chatter says it’s absolutely true.”

Roe: “There is no need for separation on the president’s policies and Mr. James may have a different style on some issues than the president.

A previous version of this article stated that in the Vanguard poll from May 2019, Peters leaded James 42-37. It has been updated to read Peters leaded a Generic Republican 42-36.