Election Polls 2006: Wisconsin Governor (original) (raw)

Wisconsin: Doyle by 4; Kohl by 39

Governor's Race: Doyle (D) 48% Green (R) 44%

October 29, 2006

Democratic Governor.Jim Doyle

Electorally, Wisconsin bears resemblance to another Northern state, Maine.

As in the Pine Tree State, Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race is overwhelmingly dominated by the incumbent, in this case Democratic Senator Herb Kohl. Senator Kohl leads Republic challenger Robert Gerald Lorge 64% to 25% in the latest Rasmussen Reports survey (see crosstabs). And Kohl is viewed favorably by 67% of all voters, including 42% of Republicans. Nobody will be chewing nails over this contest.

_Obviously, Wisconsin remains safely in the Democratic column for our Senate Balance of Power summary.

But Wisconsin also has a Democratic chief executive with only a narrow advantage in the gubernatorial race. In that race Governor Jim Doyle now leads Republican Congressman Mark Green 48% to 44% (see crosstabs).

The Governor has maintained an edge all year, but it has narrowed since the summer. In mid-September, his lead dropped from eight points to three, and the current showing isn't much better. Doyle will probably eke out a victory, but it's not a slam dunk.

Both Doyle and Green attract more than 80% of their partisan base. The Governor does markedly better with unaffiliated voters and especially moderates.

Governor Doyle is viewed favorably by 55%. His job approval rating is 52%. Green is viewed favorably by 49%. Green no longer has the five-point edge in the "very favorable" category that we saw in September.

Wisconsin is roughly average when it comes to the President's job approval rating. Forty-two percent (42%) approve of the job he's doing, 57% disapprove. Forty-five percent (45%) "strongly disapprove."

As in many other states, stem cell research has emerged as an electoral issue here. Doyle says Mark Green would prevent potentially life-saving research if he is elected. Green backs research using adult stem cells, or embryonic stem cells that can be harvested without killing the embryo.

Crosstabs are available for Premium Members only.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2006 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election. We update the President's Job Approval Ratings daily and are polling competitive Senate and Governor's races at least once a month in 2006.

Rasmussen Reports was the nation's most accurate polling firm during the Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.

During Election 2004, RasmussenReports.com was also the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

The telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports October 18, 2006. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)