Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. beat out former governor Tommy Thompson in the results of a mock 2010 U.S. Senate race poll released last week, which also resulted in a tie between likely Democrat candidate Tom Barrett and Republican candidate Scott Walker for governor.

Public Policy Polling released a series of Wisconsin polling results concerned the upcoming 2010 elections for the U.S. Senate and the gubernatorial race.

The first polling results, entitled “Feingold holds solid lead over Thompson,” detailed the poll results of a mock 2010 Senate race between Feingold and Thompson. According to the study, Wisconsin is one of the few states in which Democrats will not have to work harder than anticipated to keep their seats in the Senate.

The poll reports Feingold leads Thompson by a margin of 50-41. Thompson announced his interest in possibly running for the Senate the week prior to the release of the polling results.

However, the polls show Thompson’s popularity within Wisconsin has diminished, with 45 percent of voters holding an unfavorable opinion and 38 percent having a positive opinion of the former governor.

Feingold, on the other hand, received a 45 percent approval rating with 37 percent of voters disapproving. He also has a 47-32 lead over his fellow Republican candidate Dave Westlake and a 48-34 lead over Madison developer Terrence Wall, according to the polling release.

The polling results also stated “Feingold’s standing is particularly strong given that Barack Obama has lost a lot of support in Wisconsin.”

Public opinion in Wisconsin is evenly split on the performance of the president with 47 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving.

Even taking into account the sharp contrast between Obama’s decrease in popularity in Wisconsin and Feingold’s continuing approval ratings, Public Policy Polling President Dean Debnam said there was no reason to be surprised by the results.

After reviewing the results of the polls, Debnam said in the statement that Feingold seems to be in a safe position considering Thompson’s decrease in popularity.

Neither Feingold nor Thompson’s offices could be reached for comment on their reaction to the polling results.

The second polling results were released Nov. 27 and related to the 2010 gubernatorial race in Wisconsin. The polls reported Barrett leads against his potential Republican opponents with the exception of Walker, with whom he is tied.

The study reports a serious issue for voters is the lack of knowledge about many of the candidates. According to the polls, “57 percent of voters don’t know enough about Neumann to have an opinion, 48 percent say the same of Barrett, and Walker is a relatively blank slate to 44 percent of the state as well.”

The polling results also showed Wisconsin Independents to be following a national trend favoring Republicans. Currently Walker leads 43-28 over Barrett among Independents.

Barrett’s office declined comment, only saying “the polls speak for themselves.”