One of former Rep. Pete Hoekstra’s (R-Mich.) primary opponents dropped out of the race to challenge Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) this week.

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner John McCulloch announced he’s leaving the race and is backing Hoekstra now that the former Congressman is running.

But Hoekstra might not be alone for long. Charter school executive Clark Durant told reporters last week that he plans to announce whether he’ll run by the end of August. Republicans expect Durant to jump in.

Recent polling shows Republicans could give Stabenow a run for her money in 2012. A Public Policy Polling survey released this week showed the Senator leading Hoekstra by single digits, 50 percent to 41 percent. PPP, a Democratic survey firm, did not show results for Durant in the publicly released poll.

The survey took the opinion of 593 Michigan voters July 21-24 and had a 4-point margin of error.