Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney has a solid lead in the Republican presidential field while a neck-and-neck race for the Wisconsin governor’s seat continues, according to polling released Tuesday.
When matched up against Gov. Scott Walker in the most recent polling by the Marquette University Law School, none of the Democratic candidates currently declared would beat the governor. However, several of the candidates come very close, even within the poll’s margin of error of 3.8 percent.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who has not yet declared candidacy but is expected to make a final decision in the coming days, came the closest, receiving 45 percent of the vote to Walker’s 47 percent. Walker led Kathleen Falk 49 percent to 45.
Falk’s spokesperson Scot Ross remained optimistic over the polls.
“These polls show the more people are getting to know Kathleen, the more they see her, the more they like her as the best candidate to beat Gov. Walker,” Ross said.
When compared to polling from last January, the percent of people who are unsure of their favorability of Falk dropped from 56 percent down to 50 percent.
In the polling, the governor also led Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, 49 percent to 41 percent, and Secretary of State Doug La Follette trails 49 percent to 42 percent.
Also included in the poll were potential matchups in the Democratic primary. Barrett led the way with 36 percent, with Falk coming in a close second at 29 percent, and La Follette and Vinehout trailing with 8 percent of the vote.
However, these standings could change as 17 percent of the voters still remained undecided over the Democratic primary candidates.
The polls also tracked the GOP presidential primary election occurring April 3.
University of Wisconsin political science professor and director of the polling project Charles Franklin said while the polls do show Romney in the lead, a clear favorite has not emerged.
The polling had Romney leading the presidential race, receiving 39 percent of the vote, with Santorum closely behind him with 31 percent of the vote.
“Romney seems to have now gained the upper hand,” Franklin said. “Regionally Romney has been doing well, and most of Santorum’s support is based in the South.”
Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who will be visiting campus Thursday, came in third place, receiving 11 percent of the vote, and former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich came in last with 5 percent of the vote. Twelve percent of the voters remain undecided.
Franklin said Romney’s ability to hold the lead is an interesting turn of events after a similar poll in February showed Santorum with the lead with 34 percent of the votes.
However, Franklin said it was likely a result of the February poll being released right after several impressive Santorum victories in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.
The polling also showed how candidates would fare against President Barack Obama. The president polled higher than any of the GOP candidates. Romney polled the closest, receiving 43 percent to Obama’s 48 percent. Obama also led Santorum by 12 percent and Paul by 10 percent.
The final segment of the polling on the elections asked voters planning on voting in the Republican primary what quality was most important to them in a presidential nominee.
The top choices were strong moral character at 32 percent, experience at 30 percent and being a true conservative at 14 percent. Santorum was the most popular choice for those ranking moral character as their top priority, whereas Romney was the top choice for those ranking experience and ability to beat Obama as the highest quality.