Final poll shows Gov. Scott Walker leading in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led Democratic challenger Mary Burke by 7 percentage points in a poll released Wednesday.

With less than a week to go, the Marquette University Law School Poll reported that 50 percent of likely voters plan to vote for Walker and 43 percent for Burke. Only 3 percent said they were still undecided and 1 percent that they would vote for another candidate.

Wednesday's poll is Marquette's last before the election.

A poll conducted Oct. 9 through Oct. 12 found the two candidates tied at 47 percent each among likely voters. Poll director Charles Franklin said that in recent weeks the Republican base appears to have solidified behind Walker.

"Shifting turnout intentions have provided most of the dynamics of the race this fall," Franklin said. "While the results among all registered voters have varied between a tie and a 3-point Walker edge, the likely-voter results have ranged from a 2-point Burke advantage to the current 7-point Walker lead."

Among Republicans, 93 percent said they plan to vote next week compared to 82 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents.

Walker was elected four years ago in a close race. He survived a recall election with a slightly increased majority after a battle over public employee rights and benefits.

A number of incumbent governors this year are in close races with some, like Republican Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado running behind their opponents.

The poll interviewed 1,409 registered voters, including 1,264 saying they are likely to vote, between Oct. 23 and Oct. 26. The margin of error is 2.7 percentage points for the entire sample and 3 points for likely voters.