According to a collaborative poll, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker are the theoretical frontrunners in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

The poll, conducted by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and the University of Wisconsin political science department, asked 700 randomly selected Wisconsinites to cast their vote in a hypothetical primary for the 2010 race for governor.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, about 38 percent said they would vote for Barrett and nearly 16 percent said they would vote for current Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton. Lawton is at present the only Democrat to announce her candidacy, while Barrett has been widely encouraged to run for governor.

Walker led the Republican primary poll with approximately 38 percent of votes, whereas former congressman Mark Neumann garnered less than half of that — about 14 percent. Tim Michels, another rumored candidate who ran for senator against incumbent U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., in 2004, received about 3 percent of the votes.

Walker campaign spokesperson Jill Bader said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald he believes the poll shows Wisconsinites agree with Walker’s campaign message.

The poll also gauged public opinion of prominent political figures in the state, including the confirmed and rumored gubernatorial candidates.

According to the poll, both Feingold and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson have a public approval rating of approximately 54 percent. Thompson is considering a run for governor but has yet to declare his candidacy.

The poll also revealed most Wisconsinites feel the Legislature should focus on increasing jobs and strengthening the economy, with “holding the line” on taxes and spending coming in at a distant second.

George Lightbourn, president of WPRI, said the approval ratings in regards to Feingold did not astonish them, but Thompson’s ratings were interesting.

“Both Thompson and Feingold are lions of their parties; they are head and shoulders above other members of their parties,” Lightbourn said. “It is surprising about Thompson because he has not run for governor since ’98 and had no intentions to run for any office.”

Lightbourn said since Feingold was elected, he has consistently had strong support from Democrats and independents.

Lightbourn said they did not expect gubernatorial candidates to be unknown to some of the respondents.

According to the poll, between 30 and 40 percent of respondents said they have never heard of Lawton, Barrett, Walker and Neumann. Feingold and Thompson had much better recognition, with around 6 and 5 percent of those polled, respectively, saying they did not know them.

UW political science professor Ken Goldstein, who directed the poll with WPRI, agreed Thompson’s favorability is surprising and said if Thompson decided to run for governor it could definitely alter the race.