PPP (pdf) (11/20-22, likely voters):
Russ Feingold (D-inc): 50
Tommy Thompson (R): 41
Undecided: 9Russ Feingold (D-inc): 48
Terrence Wall (R): 34
Undecided:Russ Feingold (D-inc): 47
Dave Westlake (R): 32
Undecided:
(MoE: ±3.5%)
The Wisconsin Senate race had, until a few weeks ago, been shaping up to be a cakewalk for Russ Feingold. However, a poll from University of Wisconsin surfaced showing Feingold narrowly trailing former Gov. and former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson (43-39), and Thompson then offered a cryptic non-denial of his interest, saying he was considering runs for governor, senator, and mayor of Elroy.
Well, Thompson may want to start thinking more about the position in Elroy (although it would mean going up against the fearsome Sharon Knuth machine): PPP’s poll of the Wisconsin race conflicts pretty thoroughly with the UW poll. Feingold leads Thompson outside the margin of error, and Feingold also has very large leads over the two minor Republicans already in the field. Feingold still provokes some ambivalence, with a 45/37 approval, but that beats Thompson’s 38/45 favorable (and Westlake’s 2/9!). Thompson may fare better in the open governor’s race, and I would expect that we’ll see gubernatorial numbers from the same PPP sample fairly soon.
RaceTracker Wiki: WI-Sen
I’m surprised Feingold looks so good. I figured against Thompson it would show a statistical dead heat. Maybe there is a trend here. Dems with a backbone are in better shape than the spineless variety.
Do we have reason to believe PPP is more accurate in this state?
Either way, this is an encouraging poll.
Feingold being a liberal, progressive, and committed to HCR dem excites the dem base to such an extent that they will turn out and vote for Russ Feingold enthusiastically whether a nobody or a top tier challeneges him.
My guess about Tommy Thompson is that he approvals are low because of him being involved with the Bush administration being HHS secretary and the fact the Bush has extremely low approvals in Wisconsin.