Obama continues to lead Romney in latest poll Milwaukee, Wis. – A new Marquette Law School Poll finds former Governor Tommy Thompson holding a 28 percent to 20 percent lead over businessman Eric Hovde in next week’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Former Congressman Mark Neumann has the support of 18 percent and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald 13 percent. A substantial 21 percent remain undecided. The race has tightened since the July 5-8 Marquette Law School Poll, which found Thompson with 35 percent, Hovde at 23 percent, Neumann at 10 percent and Fitzgerald at 6 percent. Twenty-five percent were undecided in the July poll. “The GOP primary race continues to get closer,” said Marquette Law School Poll Director Charles Franklin. “Thompson held a lead of 20 percentage points over Hovde in June, 12 points in July and now 8 points in August. Likewise, Mark Neumann and Jeff Fitzgerald have rebounded from lower levels of support in early July.” When undecided voters are asked which candidate they lean towards, the vote becomes 33 percent for Thompson, 24 percent for Hovde, 21 percent for Neumann and 15 percent for Fitzgerald. Seven percent remain undecided. The Republican primary results are based on 519 likely voters (i.e., those who say they are certain they will vote in the August 14 primary). The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points. Two polls released by other pollsters last week showed a statistical tie between Thompson and Hovde and a close three-way race with Neumann. The Thompson lead is larger in the Marquette Law School Poll but is narrowly within the margin of error. Poll Director Charles Franklin notes: “One difference between the Marquette Law School Poll and the other two polls, conducted by Public Policy Polling and We Ask America, is that the Marquette poll includes cell phones while the others do not.” The race is closer among landline-only respondents in the Marquette data, with Thompson at 26 percent, Hovde at 22 percent, Neumann at 20 percent and Fitzgerald at 13 percent, with 21 percent undecided. In the November U.S. Senate general election, Thompson receives 48 percent to Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s 43 percent. Neumann and Baldwin each receive 44 percent. Baldwin receives 44 percent to Hovde’s 41 percent and Baldwin gets 45 percent to Fitzgerald’s 40 percent. All four matchups are within the margin of error. These results are little changed since early July, when all matchups were also within the margin of error. In the presidential race, President Barack Obama leads former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, 50 percent to 45 percent. In July, Obama had 51 percent to Romney’s 43 percent. The presidential race has remained stable since late May when Obama also led 51-43. The poll was conducted August 2-5 by both landline and cell phone. The November matchups for 1188 likely voters have a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points, while the result for 519 likely voters in the Republican primary has a margin of error of +/- 4.4…

Obama continues to lead Romney in latest poll Milwaukee, Wis. – A new Marquette Law School poll finds the race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination has tightened since mid-June. Former Governor Tommy Thompson continues to lead the race with support of 35 percent of likely primary voters, but businessman Eric Hovde now holds the support of 23 percent, up from the 14 percent he received in mid-June. Thompson’s support was 34 percent in the June poll. Former Congressman Mark Neumann is supported by 10 percent while Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald is at 6 percent. Neumann was at 16 percent in June, while Fitzgerald was at 10 percent. A quarter of likely voters, 25 percent, remain undecided, the same as in the June survey. In matchups for the November U.S. Senate election, Thompson receives 45 percent to Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s 41 percent, a difference that is within the margin of error of the poll. In June, Thompson had 49 percent to Baldwin’s 41 percent. When matched against Hovde, Baldwin receives 44 percent to Hovde’s 38 percent. Baldwin receives 43 percent to Neumann’s 40 percent. Baldwin also receives 43 percent to Fitzgerald’s 37 percent. All four matchups are within the margin of error. In mid-June, Baldwin and Neumann were tied at 44 percent each; Baldwin held a 45-36 advantage over Hovde and a 45-39 margin over Fitzgerald. “The tightening of the race is consistent with other recent polls in the state,” said Marquette Law School Poll Director Charles Franklin. A poll earlier in the week by Public Policy Polling (PPP) also showed all the November Senate matchups within the margin of error. Unlike the Marquette Law School Poll, however, the PPP poll found Hovde at 31 percent to Thompson’s 29 percent. “We continue to see a significant Thompson lead, unlike PPP, but our findings are consistent with others that have shown substantial recent gains by Hovde and some slippage by Neumann,” said Franklin. “We differ on the size of the gains but agree on the momentum currently demonstrated by the Hovde campaign.” In the presidential race, President Barack Obama leads former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 51 percent to 43 percent. In June, Obama had 49 percent to Romney’s 43 percent. The presidential race has remained stable since late May when Obama also led 51-43. The poll was conducted July 5-8 by both landline and cell phone. The November matchups for 810 likely voters have a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points, while the result for 432 likely voters in the Republican primary has a margin of error of +/- 4.8 percentage points. Senate candidate images Thompson remains the best known among likely Republican primary voters with a 58 percent favorable rating, 27 percent unfavorable and 14 percent unable to give a rating. Hovde receives a 34 percent favorable to 7 percent unfavorable balance, but 58 percent are still unable to give a reaction to him. Neumann’s rating is 34 percent favorable to 17 percent unfavorable, with 47 percent…