Marquette Poll: Scott Walker Pulls Away From Democrat Burke

Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker seems to be freezing out Democratic opponent Mary Burke with a 47 percent to 41 percent lead, says a Marquette Law School poll released Monday, Politico reports.

The same poll in October put Burke, a former executive for Trek Bicycles, in a dead heat with Walker, but the most recent survey of 802 registered voters, conducted Jan. 20-23, found that she still needs to warm up to voters. Seventy percent say they have not heard enough about her to have an opinion.

The poll also shows that 54 percent of respondents say the state is heading in the right direction, compared to 40 percent who don't think so.

Walker was elected governor in 2010. He faced a bitter recall effort in 2012 that captured national attention when he stripped collective bargaining rights from public unions, as a way, he said, to balance the state budget.

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