Wisconsin Gov. Scott WalkerWisPolitics/Flickr
Wisconsin Democrats and union officials have a message for the recall doomsayers: Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett are still locked in a dead heat.
After the last three public polls showed Walker with a 4 to 9 percentage point lead over Barrett, Democrats released an internal poll suggesting the race remains up for grabs. In a survey of 472 recall voters by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Walker was ahead of Barrett by 3 points, 50-47. That’s within the survey’s 4-point margin of error. And in an encouraging sign for Democrats, Barrett leads Walker 50-44 among independent voters in Wisconsin.
Barrett backers say the new survey shows Walker hasn’t locked up the June 5 recall election. “This race remains a dead heat, with Barrett solidifying and even building on his lead amongst independents, and Democrats’ turnout operation in full gear as early voting and GOTV begin in earnest,” Kelly Steele, the spokesman for the labor-backed outside political group We Are Wisconsin, wrote in a memo released to the press.
Steele also took aim at the recent flurry of polls, saying they were “flawed” because Republicans were overrepresented in their samples. The race will remain a “dead heat” until election day, Steele argued, and turnout will decide who triumphs on June 5. “On Election Day, it’s that very turnout that will determine the outcome, and we remain confident in our trajectory and continue to execute our program as planned.”
Read Steele’s memo:
