Despite heightened media coverage of the John Doe probe, experts say the investigations are unlikely to be a tipping point in favor of either candidate in this year’s gubernatorial election.

John Doe seems to be an issue that Walker and his campaign cannot seem to shake, Mike McCabe, director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said. With the latest lawsuit coming out just a few days ago, Walker has repeatedly tried to distance himself from the investigations, he said.

Now that the groups targeted have seemingly delayed ruling from the investigations until after the election Nov. 4, the impact of the investigation at the ballot box seems slight, McCabe said.

“I think the public deserved for this to be played out before the election but that’s not going to happen,” McCabe said. “I really think it’s been the media coverage of various twists and turns in this investigation that’s going to weigh on voters minds.”

Public opinion of the John Doe investigations has an extremely partisan divide, University of Wisconsin journalism professor Mike Wagner said.

Walker’s supporters are not likely to be persuaded that he has done something wrong, and will dismiss the investigations while Walker’s opponents think that this is indicative that Walker is not fit to be in office, Wagner said. The people who are undecided are probably not the people who are following the developments of the case, he said.

Instead, he said, the investigations have “calcified” the polarization among the most ideologically extreme Wisconsinites.

Political science professor Kenneth Mayer said he agreed that the John Doe investigations are unlikely to be the tipping point for the state’s few remaining swing voters.

“My strong sense is if someone is really undecided that the John Doe investigation is going to be pretty far down on the list, but that’s because of the nature of the investigation and the fact that there are other issues that are being highlighted by the candidates,” Mayer said.

According to the most recent Marquette Law School poll, 24 percent of voters have not heard of the John Doe investigations, and of those who are aware of the investigations, 37 percent thought that it was “really something serious.” This number has dropped 5 percent since July.

Furthermore, the Burke campaign has not made the probe a priority in the gubernatorial race, McCabe said.

Since it is unlikely that the outcome of the probe would come out before Nov. 4, the Burke campaign has instead chosen to focus on Walker’s job numbers and his 2010 pledge to create 250,000 new jobs for Wisconsinites as its path to victory, Wagner said.

Although the probe is unlikely to be resolved ahead of the gubernatorial election, the issue could come back to haunt Walker in his potential 2016 presidential run, Wagner said. He said he could be subjected to the scrutiny of not only Democratic challengers but also other gubernatorial candidates and the national media in the early stages of his campaign.