Doyle still up by 9 in new poll

Another poll with Doyle's lead in the high single digits.

Will we get a new one tomorrow morning from Republican Strategic Vision, saying it's a tie? That's what happened last time WISC-TV released an independent poll.

JS Daywatch:

Latest poll says Doyle up 49%-40%

Madison - A poll this week of 600 likely voters in the Nov. 7 election for governor gave incumbent Democrat Jim Doyle a 49%-to-40% lead over Republican challenger Mark Green.

Green Party candidate Nelson Eisman got 1% of the vote; the rest of those surveyed were undecided in the poll by Research 2000 that was paid for by WISC-TV. The Sept. 5-7 telephone survey had a margin of error of 4%.

The new poll gave Doyle about the same lead as a station's last poll in mid-August. Then, Doyle had a 48%-38% margin over Green, who represents northeast Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The new poll said Doyle's important "favorable" rating was 51%, a 3% gain from August -- a gain influenced by Doyle's TV ads. Green's approval rating in the new poll was 37%, a 2% drop since August. But one out of every three likely voters polled said they had no opinion of Green -- a sign that he is still much less known.

Other trends in the new WISC-TV poll: Doyle was slightly more popular with women respondents, and had a 2-to-1 lead -- 59% to 27% -- over Green in Madison, the governor's home town. Green's biggest support came from his Green Bay-area neighbors, where he only trailed Doyle by a 41% to 46% margin.

Doyle lead Green 53% to 36% among Milwaukee-area voters. Milwaukee County voters cast 15% of the statewide vote for governor four years ago.

Despite the way it's reported, the breakdown is by region, not city. Madison includes much of southern Wisconsin, and Green Bay much of the northeast.