The latest Rasmussen polls show a boost for both Republican gubernatorial nominee Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Republican Senatorial nominee Ron Johnson following their primary victories.
The polls were conducted the day after the Sept. 14 primary elections, and showed Walker leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 51 percent to 43 percent, and Johnson ahead of incumbent U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., 51 percent to 44 percent.
UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said this increase in the polls for Walker and Johnson ""is partly an artifact of the closely contested GOP primary. Far more Republicans went to the polls on Tuesday than Democrats.""
The gap between the candidates in polls taken at the end of August were significantly smaller, with Walker leading Barrett by three points, and Johnson and Feingold in a dead heat with a one-point advantage to Johnson.
""This certainly is a year in which national political forces, as well as perhaps state forces, are favoring the Republican candidates,"" Franklin said. ""So the persistent small leads we've seen for Republicans in both the Governor and Senate race are now going to be maybe expanded a little bit from the primaries.""
Rasmussen changed the Governor's race from ""Toss-Up"" to ""Leaning GOP,"" while the Senate race is still in the ""Toss-Up"" category.
Both Walker and Johnson were more successful in consolidating party support. Rasmussen found 94 percent of Republicans backed Johnson and 96 percent supported Walker, who faced a particularly tough primary against former congressman Mark Neumann.
Barrett and Feingold each received 86 percent of surveyed Democrats' support.
