Johnson holds 6-point lead over Barnes in Wisconsin Senate race: poll

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) currently has a 6-point lead over his Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin’s Senate race, according to a new Marquette University Law School poll. 

The poll, published on Wednesday, found that 52 percent of likely voters surveyed said they’ll vote for Johnson in November’s midterm election, while 46 percent of respondents offered their support for Barnes. 

When registered voters in the state were asked the same question, both candidates received 47 percent of support. 

Along party lines, 93 percent of registered Democratic respondents said they’ll vote for Barnes, the state’s current lieutenant governor, in November’s midterm election, and 5 percent of state Democrats surveyed said they will cast their vote for Johnson. 

Ninety-six percent of Republican respondents said they’ll vote for Johnson, a former businessman, in next month’s election, while 3 percent said they will cast their vote for his opponent. 

Among registered independent voters surveyed, 51 percent of respondents said they’ll vote for Johnson, as 45 percent said they’ll vote for Barnes, according to the poll. 

Forty-five percent of respondents said in the survey that they have an unfavorable opinion of the incumbent senator, while 41 percent of respondents have a favorable opinion of Johnson. 

Forty percent of respondents said in the poll that they have an unfavorable opinion of Barnes, while 39 percent of respondents think positively of him. 

The Johnson-Barnes showdown is one of the few races in November’s midterm election that could swing the outcome of which political party will have majority control of the chamber. 

The editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article on Wednesday detailing to readers eight reasons why they should oppose Johnson’s reelection bid, comparing him to late Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.), who infamously gained prominence for stoking anti-communist hysteria in 1950s-era Senate hearings. 

The Marquette University Law School poll was conducted from Oct. 3 to Oct. 9 with a total of 801 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error was 4.3 percentage points.