Walker gets poll bump from convention endorsement

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker picked up some momentum in his bid for governor by gaining the Wisconsin Republican Party’s endorsement last weekend, according to the latest poll by Rasmussen Reports.
A new Rasmussen telephone survey of 500 likely voters in the state finds Walker with the support of 48 percent of the respondents, compared with 41 percent for Democrat Tom Barrett. Three percent prefer some other candidate, and eight percent were undecided.
A month ago, Walker held a 46 to 44 percent lead over Barrett in the same poll.
The poll shows that former Congressman Mark Neumann, who is campaigning against Walker in the GOP primary, would be leading Barrett, 44 to 42 percent, with six percent favoring another candidate, and eight percent undecided.
Keith Gilkes, campaign manager for Walker, said, “Yet again, we’re seeing Scott Walker as the frontrunner in this race and winning by a wide margin with independent voters.   The momentum is clearly behind Scott and his plan to get government out of the way to bring 250,000 jobs to Wisconsin.”
Relative to other polls, Rasmussen polls traditionally tend to skew results more favorably toward Republican candidates.
Barrett campaign spokesman Phil Walzak said, “Rasmussen Reports is notorious for its strong Republican bias and questionable methodology. As more and more people across Wisconsin hear Tom Barrett’s comprehensive plan to create jobs and get Wisconsin working, they know he is the best choice for governor. Also, I can confirm for you that Rasmussen Results called the Barrett HQ as part of its sample for this survey, which raises serious (doubts) about this poll’s methodology and accuracy."
– BizTimes Milwaukee