ICYMI: Democrat Pollster Public Policy Polling Shows Walker 45%, Barrett 38%

Walker gains 4 points over Barrett since March; has highest support of any candidate with Independents, Republicans, or conservatives

Wauwatosa – Keith Gilkes, campaign manager for Scott Walker, released the following statement on a poll by Democratic Public Policy Polling, which shows Walker has expanded his lead and is still best positioned to beat Tom Barrett in November.

“The more Wisconsinites learn about Scott Walker and his plan to create 250,000 jobs in his first term, the more they support him.  Meanwhile, the more voters learn about Tom Barrett, the more they realize he will simply be a third term of Jim Doyle.”

Included in today’s poll:

• Walker’s positives have risen five points since March with negatives staying flat (36-28 total).  Meanwhile, Barrett’s positives have stayed flat with his negatives rising eight points in just three months (28-30 total).  Mark Neumann’s numbers are also upside down at 18% favorable and 35% unfavorable.
   
• Walker has the most grassroots support of any candidate.  He has the support of 55% of conservatives and 63% of Republicans, while Tom Barrett is viewed favorably by 54% of liberals and only 46% of Democrats.  Meanwhile Mark Neumann is viewed favorably by a mere 29% of Republicans (27% unfavorable) and 25% of conservatives (27% unfavorable).
   
• Walker has the highest favorable ratings among Independents and leads Tom Barrett among that group by 13 points – 43%-30%.

GOP up in Wisconsin GOV
Public Policy Polling
Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Republicans continue to hold a small advantage in the Wisconsin Governor's race. Scott Walker leads Tom Barrett 45-38 on PPP's newest survey, while Mark Neumann's edge over Barrett is 41-36.

Recent advertising in the race has had a clear impact on voter perceptions of the candidates, with Walker seeing an increase in his favorability while Barrett's negatives have climbed. When we polled the state in March 31% of voters had a favorable opinion of Walker while 27% viewed him unfavorably. His positive number has increased five points to 36% since then while his negative has gone up only a point to 28% for a +8 overall spread. Barrett's numbers have gone in the other direction. The number of voters seeing him in a positive light is basically unchanged, going from 29% to 28%. But his negatives have risen eight points from 22% to 30%, and his favorability is now a -2 spread.

One thing that can't be helping Barrett's prospects for keeping this office in the Democratic column is the continuing unpopularity of Jim Doyle. Only 28% of voters are happy with the job he's doing as Governor while 59% disapprove. Usually when voters are that unhappy with an incumbent they don't replace him with someone else of the same party.

Walker has a more unified party than Barrett at this point and is also winning Independents. He gets 85% of the Republican vote to Barrett's 78% of the Democratic vote and has a 43-30 advantage with unaffiliated voters.

None of the candidates in this race are particularly well known yet- 36% of voters haven't formed an opinion about Walker and 42% don't have one about Barrett- so it could certainly shift as voters start tuning into the race more but for now the GOP is favored to take this office back.

See the full results here: http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/06/gop-up-in-wisconsin-gov....