Democratic challenger Tony Evers holds a 5-point lead over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.
The survey from the left-leaning firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) found that 49 percent of Wisconsin voters backed Evers, compared to the 44 percent who supported Walker.
The poll was the first to be conducted after the state’s gubernatorial primaries this week, Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) reported Friday.
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“I think Scott Walker is in trouble,” Jim Williams, an analyst at the polling firm, told WPR.
“I think we have a nominee (in Tony Evers) who is in strong position, relative to Scott Walker, and is potentially looking to get stronger as his party coalesces behind him.”
Evers, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, won the Democratic primary for governor on Tuesday while Walker is running for reelection to a third term this year.
WPR reported that respondents in the poll were split in their support in the 2016 presidential election, with 45 percent voting for President Trump and 45 percent voting for Hillary Clinton.
The outlet noted that the poll was slightly skewed toward Democrats, with 36 percent of respondents aligning themselves with the party compared to the 29 percent who said they were Republicans. Another 35 percent said they were Independent voters.
Maggie Gau, Evers’s campaign manager, told WPR that the results show that Wisconsin is “ready for a change” and that voters “already embrace Tony Evers’ positive agenda to fix our roads, improve our schools, and lower the cost of health care.”
Walker campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger said that the incumbent is “preparing for a tough campaign where he’ll have to earn every vote to withstand a flood of money from big government special interests from Washington.”
The PPP survey of nearly 600 Wisconsin voters was conducted Aug. 15-16 via telephone, according to WPR. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.