Republican Gov. Scott Walker leads Democratic challenger Tom Barrett 52% to 45% among likely voters in next week’s recall election, according to results of the Marquette Law School Poll released Wednesday.
The seven point margin is not statistically different from a six point margin in a Law School Poll conducted two weeks earlier, said Charles Franklin, a visiting professor of law and public policy at the Law School and director of the poll. The difference between Walker and Barrett is within the margin of error for the poll, which is 4.1 percentage points.
The poll was conducted May 23 to 26, with most of the 720 people in the sample interviewed before a televised debate between Walker and Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, last Friday. Franklin said that it is possible things have changed in the light of the debate or other developments. In releasing the results, he and Mike Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, showed results of 16 polls this year of the recall race. The Law School Poll results were in line with other results, which have generally shown a small Walker lead in recent weeks. However, a poll also released Wednesday found the two candidates tied at 49%. That poll was conducted by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
In other results of the Law School Poll, Democratic President Barack Obama led Republican challenger Mitt Romney 51% to 43% in Wisconsin. Two weeks earlier, the poll found the presidential race to be tied. Franklin said there is still a lot of time for the presidential race to develop.
Full results from the new poll and previous polls can be found by clicking here.