Marquette Poll: Scott Walker faces close reelection race in 2014 [View all]

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http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/jack_craver/marquette-poll-scott-walker-faces-close-reelection-race-in/article_1d4d4e3e-40ca-11e3-a8eb-0019bb2963f4.html

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is still expected to be reelected in 2014, but not by much. The most recent statewide poll from Marquette University Law School puts the governor two points ahead likely Democratic challenger Mary Burke, 47-45.

As Prof. Charles Franklin, the poll's director, pointed out on Twitter, Walker's approval number has hardly budged in the 20 months since Marquette began its public opinion survey at the height of the recall election campaign in 2012. The most recent poll shows 49 percent of registered voters approve of the job he's doing and 47 percent disapprove, evidence that few in the Badger State haven't formed an opinion about the governor, whose aggressive conservatism has elevated the profile of state politics since his election in 2010.

The good news for Democrats is that their likely nominee, Madison school board member Mary Burke, is running neck-and-neck with Walker, even though she is still largely unknown.

Another relatively unknown candidate, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, also picks up 45 percent of the vote to Walker’s 48 percent in a potential match-up, adding to the perception that Democratic-leaning voters are likely to vote for anybody over Walker. That has not been the case in past elections, including the three landslide reelection victories by former Gov. Tommy Thompson, in which he picked up a large share of Democratic voters.