Incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R – WI) closed in on Democratic challenger Russ Feingold, who had previously led by large margins, in a new Wisconsin Senate poll from Marquette Law School.
Feingold still leads the race for the U.S. Senate seat for Wisconsin by two points, 48-46, among Wisconsin likely voters. With third-party candidates included, Feingold leads 46-44, with Libertarian Phil Anderson following at 4 percent.
In a Marquette poll from last month, Feingold held a six-point lead over Johnson, 47-41, who captured the Senate seat from the Democrat in 2010. In the three-way race, Feingold led by five points, 44-39, with Anderson at 7 percent.
The Marquette Law School poll was conducted Oct. 6-9 among 878 likely Wisconsin voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
TPM’s PollTracker Average for the U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin shows a tossup, with Feingold leading Johnson, 46 to 44.2.
What the heck changed?
Dark money got inserted into the mix.
Wisconsin seems to have crashed and burned since the 1970s when the U. of WI was one of the Midwestern university vanguards in protests against the Viet Nam War. What happened to that state anyhow? Why is Ron Johnson attractive over Feingold? Johnson is the same horrible pos that is their sickening governor after all. Then again, they do have THAT governor, which fits perfectly with Ron Johnson’s presence in the state government. Looks a lot like the same horror story as the IL and MI state governments anymore, not to mention the even worse state of IN (where I grew up and will never go back).
The poll is pre-tape, pre-debate. A lot’s changed since then.
I believe DCC polling showed that the generic Republican was paying a 7 point penalty against a generic Democrat regardless of whether they abandon Trump now or not. I need to track down my source on that.– https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/10/10/house-democrats-believe-trump-troubles-give-them-real-shot-at-retaking-majority/
I read that as “the tape has cost Republicans 5 points regardless of their reaction now.” This may have been true in instant polling after the revelation, though surely will have subsided by now to some extent.
I haven’t been following this race closely—is Feingold making the same dumb, self-inflicted mistake he made in 2010, when he refused to accept outside money and refused to put out “negative” ads?
Absent that, it’s kind of odd that the polls would have moved in this direction when they seem to moving in the other direction all over the country.