Russ Feingold (left), Sen. Ron Johnson (right)
An already close race between Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson and Democratic challenger Russ Feingold is down to just a one point gap between the candidates.
The results of a Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday have Feingold ahead of the incumbent by a 45-44 percent margin. The race had just a two point gap, at 46-44 percent, in a poll released in mid-October.
Libertarian candidate Phil Anderson polled at three percent support, down from four percent in the October poll.
The results reflect a race that has become increasingly competitive in the closwing weeks of the election, with outside groups pumping millions of dollars into last-minute advertising. Feingold is trying to reclaim the seat he lost to Johnson in the 2010 election.
Feingold’s campaign maintained that they have a clear advantage heading toward Election Day. “While Sen. Johnson spends the last days of this campaign lashing out with child-like insults, clinging to Donald Trump, and failing to explain his years in Washington rigging the system for multi-millionaires like himself, Russ will close out this campaign the way he started it – listening to the middle class and working families of this state who want an economy that works for everyone, not just corporate CEOs,” campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement.
Johnson campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger said the poll shows “this race is a dead heat and the momentum is clearly with Ron Johnson.”
The poll of 1,401 registered voters was conducted October 26-31. It has a margin of error of 3.3 percent.