Andy Dillon, the Democrat House Speaker from Redford Township, has officially jumped into the race for governor. He remains in the long list of Democrats polling poorly against the major GOP candidates, Mike Cox and Pete Hoekstra.

Still, Dillon is a clear favorite in the primary, especially if Democrats seriously look forward to the general election this year. According to the Detroit Free Press, Dillon is polling 9% ahead of Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero (did you hear he’s a fighter?), his key challenger in the primary. Still, that same article puts Dillon 9% behind Mike Cox and 8% behind Pete Hoekstra.

Perhaps the bigger challenge for Dillon will be overcoming his pro-life standpoint in the primary.  Dillon hasn’t exactly positioned himself well with his base, which would be one of his biggest challenges looking forward (that and being a member of the party that has systematically run our state into the ground for the last eight years).