Clinton, Feingold Maintain Leads In Latest Marquette University Law School Poll

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is holding on to her lead against Republican Donald Trump in Wisconsin, according to the latest Marquette University Law School poll.

The poll has Clinton leading Trump 44 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. Last month, Clinton led Trump 45 percent to 42 percent. Among all registered voters, Clinton leads with 39 percent while Trump trails at 35 percent.

“You really shouldn’t think this tells us much about the race tightening or not,” said Charles Franklin, director of the poll, noting national conversations about tightening polls in the presidential race. “It’s a very small Clinton advantage, but one that’s well within the margin of error.”

Marquette surveyed 802 registered voters from Sept. 15-18, which included 677 likely voters. The poll’s margin of error for likely voters was +/- 4.8 points.

Both parties have registered voters who expressed unhappiness with their party’s presidential nominee. Of the Republicans and independents leaning Republican, 68 percent said they wanted a different nominee, 29 percent said they prefer Trump as the nominee. Among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, 43 percent like Clinton as the nominee while 48 percent said they would prefer former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

The poll also found former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold is maintaining his lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. Feingold is leading Johnson with the support of 47 percent of likely voters, compared to Johnson’s 41 percent. That lead increased from last month’s poll, which had Feingold leading 48 percent to 45 percent.

Franklin characterized the jump as “a little bit of a rebound for Feingold.”

“It gives him a little more of an edge, compared to the Clinton margin,” Franklin said.

Eight percent of the likely voters surveyed in the latest poll said they did not have a preference when it came to the Feingold-Johnson race.

Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker’s approval rating is stagnant at 43 percent with his disapproval rating going up three points to 52 percent from 49 percent.

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s favorable rating dipped to 47 percent from 54 percent in early August. His unfavorable rating is 32, one point less than when last measured in early August.