Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is holding onto her lead over her Republican challenger, state Sen. Leah Vukmir, less than one month from the election.
A Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday shows Baldwin up 10 points among likely voters. Last month, Baldwin led Vukmir by 11 points.
The latest poll was conducted Oct. 3-7, before Baldwin and Vukmir faced off in the first of three debates. The margin of error among likely voters was 3.9 points, and the sample trended more Republican than the previous month's did.
Additional Senate debates are set for Oct. 13 and 19.
Twenty-seven percent of voters don't know enough about Vukmir to have an opinion on her, while 30 percent view her favorably and 43 percent view her unfavorably.
Baldwin is viewed favorably by 49 percent of voters and unfavorably by 42 percent. Nine percent don't know enough to have an opinion.
Vukmir has continued to attack Baldwin for her role in the opioid overprescription scandal at the Tomah VA Medical Center, while Baldwin has targeted Vukmir for her opposition to the Affordable Care Act and other health care votes she has taken.
The two are also starkly opposed on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Baldwin, who opposed Kavanaugh before allegations against him were made public, said during Monday's debate that she found the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford — who accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were teenagers — to be "credible and compelling."
Vukmir said during the debate that she believes something happened to Ford, but that Kavanaugh did not assault her. She said she believes Baldwin "cheapened" the #MeToo movement by opposing Kavanaugh without meeting with him.
Forty-seven percent of voters said they opposed Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, while 43 percent supported it. Sixty-four percent of voters said they either watched Kavanuagh's confirmation hearing live or followed it closely.
Kavanaugh is viewed favorably by 38 percent of voters and unfavorably by 41 percent, while voters are evenly split at 35 percent each on Ford's favorability.
Vukmir, a registered nurse, was first elected to the state Assembly in 2002 and to the state Senate in 2010. Baldwin was elected to the state Assembly in 1992, to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 and to the U.S. Senate in 2012.
