Wisconsin Senate race heats up as primary approaches

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race is in full swing, with all but one of the candidates advertising on television and the Republican fight for the nomination becoming more pointed less than five weeks before the primary.

A new Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday shows former Gov. Tommy Thompson leading with 35 percent support. Political newcomer Eric Hovde was second with 23 percent.

The previous Marquette poll, released on June 20, showed Thompson with an 18-point lead over Hovde.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann is third in the new poll with 10 percent and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald is last at 6 percent.

The latest random telephone poll of 432 likely primary voters was conducted July 5 through Sunday. It’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.