Barnes has edge on Johnson in Wisconsin Senate race: Fox News poll

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) is leading Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) by 4 percentage points in the state’s Senate race, according to a new poll. 

A Fox News poll released on Thursday found 49 percent of Wisconsin voters would cast a ballot for Barnes if the election were held today, while 45 percent would vote for Johnson. The results are within the poll’s margin of error of 3 percentage points.

When the poll factored in voters who leaned toward one of the candidates, Barnes’s support increased to 50 percent and Johnson’s to 46 percent.

The poll also found 57 percent of Wisconsin voters supporting Barnes and 66 percent of Wisconsin voters supporting Johnson said they supported their candidate “enthusiastically.”

Another 15 percent of Barnes supporters and 23 percent of Johnson supporters described their sentiment as “I support him, but with some reservations.” And 27 percent of Barnes supporters and 8 percent of Johnson supporters described their support for their candidate as “I mostly dislike the other candidates.”

Friday’s Fox News poll comes on the heels of a poll from Marquette University Law School released Wednesday that showed Barnes with a 7-point lead over Johnson.

Barnes, a 35-year-old populist is battling to oust Johnson, a key Trump ally with a history of controversial remarks, in a state that could be crucial to Democrats’ plan to keep or expand their Senate majority. While the latest polling on the Wisconsin Senate race — and in other key states like Pennsylvania and Ohio — has boosted Democratic optimism, the party and Barnes still face several headwinds.

The Fox News poll was conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research between Aug. 12 and Aug. 16 with 1,006 Wisconsin voters surveyed. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.