The presidential and U.S. Senate races in Wisconsin are both locked in a dead heat, according to the latest Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday, with the election 20 days away.
The survey’s results show President Barack Obama holds a slight lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters in the state, 49 percent to 48 percent. Two weeks ago, Obama was ahead of his Republican challenger by 11 percentage points.
Likewise, former Gov. Tommy Thompson has erased the lead of his Democratic opponent. 46 percent of Wisconsin voters now plan to vote for Thompson compared to 45 percent for U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. Baldwin held a four-point advantage over Thompson in the last Marquette poll.
The poll, which was conducted between two presidential debates, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.
The favorability ratings for both Baldwin and Thompson reflect what has been a largely negative campaign. 47 percent of those surveyed viewed Baldwin unfavorably compared to 32 percent who held positive opinions of her, while half of the respondents said they held negative views of Thompson compared to 37 percent who viewed him favorably.
Overall, independent voters leaned toward the Republican candidates in the poll. 49 percent of independents preferred Romney compared to 45 percent for Obama. Thompson held an advantage of 44 percent to Baldwin’s 41 percent among swing voters.
David Canon, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor, credited Romney’s bounce in the poll to his strong performance in the first debate, which he said has helped the GOP nominee all across the country.
As for the Senate race, Canon said the Thompson campaign’s recent slew of ads painting Baldwin as extreme seemed to help him make up ground after the Madison congresswoman dominated him on the airwaves in the month after the primary.
If the poll’s trend continues, Canon said the national attention being placed on both races in Wisconsin will intensify even further in the closing weeks.
“Wisconsin clearly is one of the seven or eight states that are the key states and we could move in to one of the three or four key states if we get another tight poll like this,” Canon said.
