The frontrunners in the Wisconsin 2010 gubernatorial election are neck and neck according to a recently released poll.
The poll, conducted by the democratic-leaning pollster The Mellman Group, showed Democratic candidate Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett had 40 percent of the vote while Republican candidate Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker had 39 percent.
Twenty-one percent of those polled were undecided. The poll did not survey opinions on Republican candidate and former congressman Mark Neumann.
""I wouldn't say that this poll reliably shows Barrett ahead by one [percent], that's within the margin of error anyway, but I think to the extent that it shows that the race is very close, that seems quite reliable,"" Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political science professor, said.
According to Franklin, Republicans may dispute the polls findings because other recent polls, such as a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, showed Walker ahead of Barrett.
However, Franklin said the varying methodologies of each pollster makes comparing different polls equivalent to comparing ""apples to oranges.""
The poll found that just over half of those asked were familiar with Walker and Barrett.
""Neither of those candidates have really become visible to a large majority of the public so the people that are responding to them as candidates right now are people that are highly involved in politics … and also therefore probably more partisan,"" Franklin said.
The poll was conducted through telephone interviews of 600 likely Wisconsin voters between Jan. 11 through Jan. 14. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
—Hannah Furfaro
