Poll: Feingold holds narrow lead in Wis. Senate race

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) holds a narrow lead over Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a new poll finds.

A Marquette University Law School poll found Feingold leading by 3 points among likely voters, 48 percent to 45 percent, which is within the survey’s margin of error. 

The poll is a bright spot for the vulnerable GOP senator after a Marquette poll in early August showed the former Democratic senator leading by double digits, 52 percent to 42 percent.

Among registered voters, Feingold leads Johnson by 4 points, 46 percent to 42 percent. That’s closer than the 6-point margin from the August poll.

But another survey released Wednesday shows Johnson further behind. The Monmouth University poll found Feingold leading by 13 points, 54 percent to 41 percent.

Feingold’s campaign touted his lead in the polls and knocked Johnson for putting Washington ahead of constituents in Wisconsin.

“Senator Johnson has spent years in Washington working for big corporate interests and multi-millionaires like himself while Wisconsinites fall behind,” spokesman Michael Tyler said. “So while Russ maintains a consistent lead in the polls, this campaign will continue to prioritize the middle class and working families of this state who want leaders who will listen to and fight for them.”

For Johnson’s part, his campaign, which didn’t mention the polls, hammered Feingold for being “out of touch” for calling Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton trustworthy. But Feingold has said that the Clinton Foundation should “probably” shut down if she’s elected president.

“Senator Feingold is so out of touch he thinks Hillary Clinton is trustworthy, which is why he’s been running a dishonest and deceptive campaign all summer with little to show for it,” spokesman Brian Reisinger said. “Now he’s facing allegations of unethical behavior, and it couldn’t be a clearer contrast with Ron Johnson, who has been working hard to protect Wisconsin taxpayers and keep our local communities safe.”

The Wisconsin Senate race will likely be pivotal in determining which party controls the upper chamber next year. President Obama won the state’s electoral votes in both 2008 and 2012. 

Feingold has consistently led in every poll of the race listed on RealClearPolitics.

The Marquette poll was conducted Aug. 25–28 and surveyed 803 registered voters via phone. Out of the 803 voters, 650 are likely voters. The margin of error for the full sample was 4.5 points, and 5 points for likely voters.

The Monmouth poll was conducted Aug. 27–30 and surveyed 404 likely voters in Wisconsin. Its margin of error was 4.9 percentage points.