Poll: Thompson leads Baldwin in Senate race

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A new poll shows former Gov. Tommy Thompson is the Republican candidate with the best chance of beating Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race.

The Marquette University poll released Wednesday says Thompson leads Baldwin, 48 percent to 42 percent.

However, Baldwin polls better than former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, 44 percent to 40 percent, and she's ahead of Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, 45 percent to 37 percent.

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One problem for Neumann and Fitzgerald is name recognition. At least half of respondents say they haven't heard enough about either candidate.

Meanwhile, Thompson has the highest favorability rating of the four. The poll says 44 percent have a favorable opinion compared to 34 percent unfavorable.

The poll questioned 716 registered Wisconsin voters from Feb. 16-19. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.