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Posted:  |  Updated: 06/04/12 02:03 PM ET

PPP's Final Wisconsin Poll Shows Scott Walker Edging Tom Barrett

WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) holds a narrow lead over his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, in the run up to Tuesday's recall election, according to the final poll on the race conducted by Public Policy Polling, a firm affiliated with the Democratic Party.

PPP's automated, recorded-voice survey, conducted among 1,226 likely voters over the weekend, puts Walker at 50 percent support, 3 percentage points ahead of Barrett's 47 percent.

Fifteen surveys on the recall election have been released over the past month, and while most have produced close results, all but one have given Walker the advantage. Independent polls have generally given Walker a bigger lead than the handful of publicly released internal polls sponsored by the Barrett campaign or its Democratic allies.

In the past week, a Marquette University Law School poll gave Walker a seven-point lead, 52 percent to 45 percent, while an internal poll conducted for the Barrett campaign by the Democratic firm Garin-Hart-Yang showed Walker leading by just two points, 50 percent to 48 percent. The latest effort from PPP, which also polls for Democratic clients but did not have a campaign or party sponsor for this survey, is closer to the Barrett campaign poll.

With all polls included, including the internal surveys by the Democrats, the HuffPost Pollster chart of all available Wisconsin surveys gives Walker a lead of 2.8 points (50.3 percent to 47.5 percent). With the Democratic campaign polls excluded, however, Walker's lead grows to 3.9 points (50.6 percent to 46.7 percent).

More on the history of the race to recall Walker:

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In 2010, a surge of Tea Party momentum and backlash against Democrats helped elect conservatives including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who became the state's first Republican governor since 2002.

Walker promised to cut taxes and create 250,000 new jobs, but a deeper look into his past also showed a politician who had inflamed tensions with unions before.

The Washington Post reports on his time as Milwaukee County Executive, during which the collective bargaining rights of unions already appeared to be one of his most ambitious targets:

During his eight-year tenure in Milwaukee County, Walker never raised property taxes. He cut the county workforce by 20 percent, improved its bond rating and gave back hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own salary as part of the effort to trim spending. But he also saw his relations with local unions deteriorate.

Union leaders say Walker never negotiated in good faith and had a singular solution to every budget problem: cut. Under his watch, the county privatized public jobs, laid off workers and placed others on furlough.

[...]

Walker argued that collective bargaining was the biggest hurdle to balancing the budget and that unions had little incentive to give ground because they almost always prevailed in arbitration. He said that the cuts he proposed were intended to prevent layoffs and accused union leaders of being uninterested in compromise.

Related on HuffPost:

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WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) holds a narrow lead over his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, in the run up to Tuesday's recall election, according to the ...
WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) holds a narrow lead over his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, in the run up to Tuesday's recall election, according to the ...
 
 
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COMMUNITY PUNDITS
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FunkSands 11:51 AM on 06/04/2012
Walker: "The state is broke, you need to take a pay cut"

Unions: "Okay"

Walker: "And you need to start paying for more of your benefits"

Unions: "Okay"

Walker: "Sorry, not good enough, we're going to eliminate your collective bargaining rights"

......?

Righties: "Darn unions!!!"

By the way, many of the reforms that Gov. Walker and the unions agreed to are  Read More...
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
katherine10
12:06 PM on 06/06/2012
"Slim lead" "Edging out", what are you talking about? It was a wipe out with Walker taking the election by 9 points. A great many Democrats voted for him also believing a recall is for malfeasance in office not because you disagree. Walker is a hero who did what he promised to do before he was elected. He has saved jobs and saved the state millions by his actions.
You will see states all over the country asking public employees to contribute to their health care and retirement. It is about time!
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
John Denney
10:39 PM on 06/05/2012
"Union leaders say Walker . . . had a singular solution to every budget problem: cut."

Just like one runs a household budget.
05:35 PM on 06/05/2012
Great to see Walker is winning by a wide margin. Poor unions and their thugs - just what will they do next?
05:22 PM on 06/05/2012
Walker needs to stay. The greedypublic unions have an unblanced playing field when they redo contract because they renew a government employee who is not spending his money but the taxpapers.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JudgeMoonbox
10:08 PM on 06/05/2012
"The greedypublic unions have an unblanced playing field when they redo contract because they renew a government employee who is not spending his money but the taxpapers."

You persumably work in the private sector. Are you spending the customers' money?
05:24 AM on 11/05/2012
Customers arent forced to buy private sector products (except health insurNce). We are forced to pay taxes.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:54 PM on 06/05/2012
I can see the 'get out the vote' volunteers now!
Looks like a LDS neighborhood sweep!

I don't pay them attention either!
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:50 PM on 06/05/2012
Bigger turn out than 2008!
20 thousand more votes than adults over 18 recorded!
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:20 PM on 06/05/2012
CBO, the one that says ObamaCare is tax neutral, STATES THAT:
The national debt will equal Double US GDP, by 2037, if CURRENT policies continue!
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:16 PM on 06/05/2012
Bring in UN observers from former Eastern Block countries! They can spot organized voter fraud!
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:10 PM on 06/05/2012
Why does the DOJ need polling observers when Libs adamantly say there is NO case of voter fraud to justify picture voter ID?
Wisconsin enacted voter ID reform 2 years ago and a FEDERAL judge put it on hold!

How will DOJ police the polls?
Pre-poll polling of the voter?
Profiling?
Making their presence obvious to all?

Are they wearing black uniforms and carrying clubs?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JudgeMoonbox
10:00 PM on 06/05/2012
"Why does the DOJ need polling observers when Libs adamantly say there is NO case of voter fraud to justify picture voter ID?"

Photo IDs are not some magic bullet that will prevent all kinds of fraud. For instance, it cannot tell you if an absentee ballot request comes from the person in whose name it is requested. Also, the Walker administration has reduced some the hours at some DMV offices, making them more inconvenient.

The head of the Waukesha County board of elections has been accused of ballot stuffing in the past. Will photo IDs prevent such misbehavior?

Another thing, let's say that Scott Walker took a page out of Rick Scott's book, and falsely declared lots of living people dead. The polling places are supposed to have enough provisional ballots on hand for such mistakes, but they ran out in 2 other crucial elections (Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004). Does the Justice Department not have probable cause to insure that boards of elections in Wisconsin are properly stocked?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LANETexasLonghorn
03:10 PM on 06/05/2012
Kochs can buy ads...they can't BUY VOTERS
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LANETexasLonghorn
02:55 PM on 06/05/2012
YOUR Fake G*D DAMN bus tours playing to 25 dopes per city...don't mean SQUAT when Progressives take to the STREETS!

take back Wisconsin
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:58 PM on 06/05/2012
I can see China from the Texas coast!

Oops! Just a Chinese oil rig, my bad!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LANETexasLonghorn
02:53 PM on 06/05/2012
Wisconsin is ROCKIN' THE VOTE
bigger than 2008 turn out

HairSpray -You Cant Stop the beat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGKXXJQCX3c&feature=related
02:49 PM on 06/05/2012
From the Wall Street Journal... "through July 2010, unions spent almost three times as much money on campaign ads as all corporations combined."

That pretty much sums it up about collective bargaining.
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
02:50 PM on 06/05/2012
And where hard working membership dues are wasted!
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
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rachydee
If logic prevailed, men would ride side-saddle
05:30 PM on 06/05/2012
not wasted at all.
04:18 PM on 06/05/2012
but the money from unions is from the members but the money from corps is from faceless special interests. ban the corp money not the union money
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
04:43 PM on 06/05/2012
Hey! Union member!
Did you tell your leadership to put YOUR money in the recall political fund or did 'leadership' assume your intent?
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
02:45 PM on 06/05/2012
Why do libs always confuse Conservative PITY for them, as hate?
Easier on their minds?
10:38 PM on 06/05/2012
let me tell you a little about PITY. where i come from we call you humans " DEAD ONES". what i use to pass off as intelligence is now a quintessential cosmic joke. time to wake up and join the living.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LANETexasLonghorn
02:38 PM on 06/05/2012
BIGGER TURN OUT than 2008!!!!!!!!!!

Back the U-Haul to the governor's mansion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd9T8uZxiLg
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HUFFPOST PUNDIT
Dangerous Dan
Because I can!
02:48 PM on 06/05/2012
I'm sure he won't take victory as licence to remodel!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LANETexasLonghorn