Russ Feingold (left), Sen. Ron Johnson (right)
The race for Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate seat is tightening up, with the gap between the two lead candidates shrinking to just two points in a new poll.
The results from the Marquette University Law School Poll released Wednesday show Democratic challenger Russ Feingold leading incumbent Senator Ron Johnson 46-44 percent among likely voters, with Libertarian candidate Phil Anderson polling at four percent. The gap between the candidates is within the poll’s margin of error of 3.9 percent.
The last Marquette poll released in late September had Feingold with a five point lead over Johnson, as he tries to reclaim the seat he lost to the Republican in the 2010 election.
The race between Feingold and Johnson has continued to tighten in recent weeks, with a memo from Johnson’s campaign saying internal polls show the incumbent with a slight edge and independents leaning towards supporting him. Johnson campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger said in a statement – “As we’ve consistently said, this is going to be a tight race with a real choice for Wisconsinites – between an Oshkosh manufacturer getting things done and a 34-year career politician saying one thing and doing another. The home stretch has only just begun, but it’s becoming clear Wisconsinites are getting ready to fire Senator Feingold for good.”
Feingold campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said “Russ is heading into the home stretch of this close race as the only candidate who fights for Wisconsin’s middle class and working families. Sen. Johnson is trying to hide his record of protecting a system that benefits corporations and multi-millionaires like himself in a desperate attempt to stay in Washington and save his political career. And he’s continuing to cling to Donald Trump, despite the fact that his Republican colleagues are repudiating his disgusting actions. Sen. Johnson can defend Donald Trump and multi-millionaires like himself all the way to Election Day, but Russ will continue to fight for Wisconsin’s middle class and working families.”
Feingold and Johnson will meet this Friday in their first debate of the campaign, taking place in Green Bay.