MU Poll Shows Democrats Leading for President, Senate

The latest poll by Marquette University shows Democrats continuing to lead among likely Wisconsin voters in the races for the White House and U.S. Senate.

In the Senate race, the latest Marquette survey had Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin leading former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson 48-44 percent. That’s down from mid-September when the same survey had Baldwin leading 50-41.

Marquette pollster Charles Franklin says the numbers reflect a boost in TV ads by Thompson and Republican groups, offsetting the money advantage Baldwin enjoyed after the Republican primary, “What we’re seeing is a campaign that’s beginning to ramp up.”

In the race for Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes, President Barack Obama maintained a 53-42 percent lead over Mitt Romney. That’s down just slightly from Obama’s 14-point lead last month.

Franklin’s poll also asked people how likely they were to change their minds based on presidential debates like the one being held tonight, “And only 2 percent said they were very likely to change their minds. Another 10 percent said somewhat likely. But a remarkable two-thirds said not at all likely.”

The poll also showed Obama with a nine-point lead among independent voters while in the race for Senate independents were evenly split between Baldwin and Thompson.