A new Marquette University pollsays Democratic incumbent Tony Evers has lost the slight lead he's had in the Wisconsin governor's race this year and the contest is now tied between Evers and Republican challenger Tim Michels.
The Marquette poll says the U.S. Senate contest is getting closer with Republican incumbent Ron Johnson now only holding a two-point lead over Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes.
The Marquette survey quizzed 802 registered voters between Oct. 24 and Tuesday night. The poll's margin of error is about 5% points.
Pollster Charles Franklin says the tie among likely voters in the governor's race reminds him of four years ago.
"It is eerily similar to 2018, where very modest Walker leads evaporated to a pure tie in the last pre-election poll. That's exactly what we're seeing this time, as well. Pure toss-up! I don't know what else to call it when they are 48-48," says Franklin.
Scott Walker, the Republican incumbent, lost to Evers by 1% point. Franklin says in Evers' favor going into next Tuesday, the Democrat polls better on who voters think better understands the problems of ordinary people, and on who better shares their values, and cares about them. But Evers has slipped back to a tiny net-negative on job approval.
In the Senate contest among likely voters its 50 percentage points for Johnson, 48 for Barnes. Barnes was down six last month. Franklin says two factors are at work in the Democrat's improvement.
"One is, some Democrats are coming home to Mandela Barnes that weren't there in the previous poll. It's not a huge change, but it is a change in his favor," Franklin says.
Franklin says the other factor is the Democrats are a little more likely to say they're certain to vote or already have voted, boosting their numbers in the likely voter category. Johnson's lead over Barnes grows to three points, when measuring just people who say they have registered to vote, or plan to do so by election day.
The Marquette poll says respondents have slightly unfavorable views of both senate candidates. Johnson has been viewed unfavorably in polls all year. Barnes has slipped into negative numbers after two months of ads attacking him. But one of those men will almost assuredly win next Tuesday.
Wisconsin's midterm elections are Tuesday, November 8, 2022. If you have a question about voting or the races, submit it below or check out WUWM's voter guide.
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