The 2010 elec­tion may still be months away, but the governor’s race is heat­ing up as both the Democratic and Republican can­di­dates are prepar­ing for the long polit­i­cal bat­tle ahead of them.

Numerous names con­tinue to appear, all pos­si­ble con­tenders to replace Governor Jennifer Granholm and right now the Michigan guber­na­to­r­ial race looks like a free-for-all with no clear front-runner from either party emerg­ing with just over six months until the pri­mary elections.

As it stands now, the race is a toss-up. Neither party holds a solid lead or advan­tage in the polls lead­ing up to the elec­tion, nor has a stand-out can­di­date emerged for either party’s nomination.

With the announce­ment that Lieutenant Governor John Cherry would be end­ing his bid for the governor’s seat, the Democratic Party is left with no clear front-runner and a mess of names to choose from.

Cherry’s announce­ment came last week and he claimed that lack of rais­ing money led to him aban­don­ing his run for gov­er­nor. Several points allude to the fact, how­ever, that he was too closely tied to Gov. Granholm and the prospects of his beat­ing any Republican can­di­date were slim.

The only Democrat that has for­mally announced her run for gov­er­nor is state Representative Alma Wheeler Smith; yet now that Cherry is out of the race, the doors are wide open for other promi­nent state Democrats. Speaker of the House Andy Dillon and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero have both formed exploratory com­mit­tees into running.

Other Democrats that are con­sid­er­ing run­ning are U.S. Rep. Bart Stupack, University of Michigan Regent Denise Ilitch, for­mer Genesee County Treasurer Dan Kildee, Michigan State University Trustee George Perles and pos­si­bly for­mer state Treasurer Robert Bowman.

With all the dif­fer­ent names that seem to want to throw their hats into the polit­i­cal ring, if the poten­tial Democratic can­di­dates don’t start mak­ing the hard deci­sions, it may spell dis­as­ter for them in November.

For the Republicans, can­di­dates for the Grand Old Party (G.O.P.) nom­i­na­tion include U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Attorney General Mike Cox, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, and Michigan busi­ness­man and cap­i­tal­ist Rick Snyder.

Republican can­di­dates are expected to begin run­ning polit­i­cal ads as early as February.

Before Cherry’s depar­ture, polls revealed that the G.O.P. would most likely take back the Governor’s Mansion in the fall. Hoekstra, Cox, and Bouchard all held a con­sid­er­able lead over Cherry.

However, if Dillon decides to for­mally announce his bid for gov­er­nor, the G.O.P. may not be in such good shape come elec­tion day. Dillon’s abil­ity to pull Independents and middle-of-the-road vot­ers and his anti-abortion vot­ing and Catholic back­ground may mean defeat for the Republican nominee.

Although Michigan has been a tra­di­tion­ally lib­eral state in recent years, the elec­tion will still be wide-open when the pri­mary elec­tions occur on Aug. 3. The result of this elec­tion may be one that sur­prises just about everyone.

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