Governor’s race remains tight

The latest Marquette University Law School poll shows the race for Wisconsin governor still in a dead heat between incumbent Republican Scott Walker and Democrat Mary Burke. The August poll of 815 registered voters was conducted Aug. 21-24. The numbers changed only slightly compared to previous polls in July and May and remain within the margins of error.

The margin of error in August was +/- 3.5% among the full sample of 815 registered voters and +/- 4.1% for the 609 likely voters polled.

Of registered voters, 54% believe the state is headed in the right direction, compared to 42% who believe otherwise.

Forty-five percent of registered voters who responded believe the state’s budget is in better shape now, 26% say it’s about the same, and 22% believe it is worse than it was a few years ago.

The race for attorney general shows both candidates needing public face time, with 73% of those polled not knowing enough about Democrat Susan Happ to form an opinion and 76% not familiar enough with Republican Brad Schimel. Still, of registered voters taking the poll, 40% said they would support Happ, with 33% in Schimel’s court. The gap increases among likely voters, with 42% leaning toward Happ and 32% favoring Schimel.

Sixty-three percent of those polled favored requiring photo identification at the polls, compared to 32% who were opposed to the idea.