The Wisconsin Senate race between Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold is becoming increasingly competitive, according to a new poll.
Johnson, who has been trailing Feingold by double digits in almost every poll to date, is shown to have significantly closed the gap against his Democratic challenger.
A new Marquette Law School poll among people who are certain to vote found that Johnson has gained considerable ground and has pulled within three percentage points of Feingold among those who say they are going to vote on election day.
Among those who are certain to vote, Feingold holds a slight edge showing 48 percent support to Johnson’s 45 percent.
One month ago, Feingold held a 49-37 lead among registered voters within Wisconsin.
However, Johnson has closed the gap among registered voters (note: these people are not certain to vote such as in the previous statistic) jumping five percentage points and bringing the race to 47-42 percent among those who are registered.
The Wisconsin State Journal writes:
Both campaigns said the poll results signify that the race will be close through election day. Feingold’s campaign worked that message into a fundraising appeal within an hour of the poll being released.
Poll director Charles Franklin said the tightening of the race could be a result of voters hewing more closely to their party as the presidential primary approaches.
"As always, we have to wait until next time to see if it continues to tighten," Franklin said.