MILWAUKEE _ The races for the White House and U.S. Senate in Wisconsin tightened, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's favorable rating rose and the public was pessimistic about the future, according to Wednesday's Marquette University Law School Poll.
In the presidential contest, Democrat Hillary Clinton led Republican Donald Trump by 42 percent to 37 percent among registered voters here. Clinton also led Trump 45 percent to 42 percent among voters who said they are certain to go to the polls in the fall.
Three weeks ago, Clinton held a 10-point lead over Trump among registered voters and a 15-point lead among likely voters.
In the Senate rematch, Democrat Russ Feingold led Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson by 46 percent to 42 percent among registered voters and 48 percent to 45 percent among likely voters.
Walker, whose job approval numbers have lagged ever since his failed presidential campaign, finally got what amounts to a bounce, with 43 percent approving of his performance and 49 percent disapproving.
The public mood was grim, with 49 percent of registered voters thinking the next generation would have a worse life than today. Just 20 percent thought the future would be brighter for the next generation while 25 percent said the next generation's prospects would be around the same as now.
"That's a remarkably high level of pessimism," said poll director Charles Franklin. "Certainly, seeing close to half of the public thinking the future is going to be worse is a serious challenge to the country. What do we think about that and what are we going to do."
Here are four poll takeaways.
Presidential race. Overall, the polling continues to underscore the political weaknesses of both major-party presidential candidates. They each have high negatives _ 63 percent unfavorable for Trump and 58 percent for Clinton _ and neither has come very close to commanding majority support.
In four Marquette polls of registered voters since June, Trump has yet to top 37 percent in a head-to-head matchup. And Clinton has only topped 43 percent once, when she drew 46 percent of the vote in early August.
With the exception of the early August poll, Clinton has steadily tracked in the low 40s, and Trump has been stuck in the mid- to high 30s in their head-to-head match-ups.
Their support is even lower when voters are offered the choice of third-party candidates. In a four-way presidential race, Clinton has 37 percent, Trump 32 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson 11 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 7 percent among registered voters. Among likely voters, Clinton is at 41 percent, Trump at 38 percent, Johnson at 10 percent and Stein at 4 percent.
Monmouth University, which released a poll of 404 likely voters Wednesday, showed Clinton leading Trump by 5 points _ 43 percent to 38 percent.
Senate race. Like the presidential race, the contest between Feingold and Ron Johnson has settled down from three weeks ago, when Johnson trailed by 6 points among registered voters and 11 points among likely voters.
Throw Libertarian candidate Phil Anderson into the mix, and the poll breakdown among registered voters was Feingold at 42 percent, Johnson at 38 percent and Anderson at 8 percent.
The race is still taking shape. When asked if they had a favorable view of the candidates, a quarter of the voters had no opinion of Feingold and 32 percent were without an opinion of Johnson. Feingold's favorable ratings ticked slightly lower from three weeks earlier, to 40 percent favorable and 35 percent unfavorable, while Johnson was at 33 percent favorable and 34 percent unfavorable.
The Monmouth poll showed a wider advantage for Feingold in the Senate race, as he leads Johnson by 13 points _ 54 percent to 41 percent.
Milwaukee unrest. More than half of those surveyed statewide said they had heard or read about the recent civil unrest in Milwaukee that followed a police shooting of an armed suspect. Asked the cause of unrest, 37 percent said it was because of long-term disadvantage for black communities while 48 percent said it was due to lack of respect for law and order.
Asked their feelings about police in their communities, 86 percent said the police made them feel safe and 12 percent said police made them feel anxious. Among a combined sample of blacks and Latinos, 57 percent said they felt safe with police and 37 percent said they felt anxious.
Undocumented immigrants. Sixty-two percent of registered voters now support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, while 19 percent back a temporary guest worker program and 15 percent said the undocumented should leave their jobs and exit the United States.
"From the rhetoric, you might think there is much more support for some kind of deportation than there is," Franklin said. "In fact, the majority of the public by a substantial margin say some sort of permanent residence with an eventual path to citizenship is their preferred policy outcome."
Among Democrats, 81 percent favor the citizenship option, 13 percent the guest worker proposal and 4 percent want undocumented immigrants to leave the country. Among Republicans, 43 percent favor the citizenship option, 26 percent the guest worker program and 28 percent want to require undocumented immigrants to exit.
Even among those supporting Trump, who has made immigration policy a key part of his campaign, 39 percent favor a path to citizenship, 26 percent back the guest worker proposal and 31 percent want undocumented immigrants to leave.
The survey of 803 registered voters _ and 650 likely voters _ was conducted Thursday through Sunday by landline and cellphone. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points for registered voters and plus or minus 5.0 percent for likely voters.
Including independents who lean to a party, 45 percent identified as Republicans and 46 percent as Democrats.
"Leaners are tilting a little more Republican in this sample," Franklin said.
