MADISON, Wis. — Mitt Romney is leading President Barack Obama in Wisconsin, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The new Rasmussen Reports survey showed the Republican nominee leading Obama 47 percent to 44 percent in the Badger State, within the poll’s margin of error. The telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters also showed four percent undecided.
The poll also found 47 percent of voters approved of Obama’s job performance while 52 percent disapproved.
Romney, on the other hand, was viewed favorably by 49 percent of respondents and unfavorably by 45 percent.
The poll is the first to show Romney leading in the traditionally Democratic state, which last voted for a Republican in 1984 when voters chose to re-elect President Ronald Reagan over Democrat Walter Mondale.
In 2008 Obama won Wisconsin by 14 percentage points.
Wisconsin’s Republican governor Scott Walker survived a recall election in convincing fashion last week, leading many political observers to see the state as a potential GOP takeover target in November.
Walker’s comfortable win despite the best efforts of big labor also prompted Obama campaign manager Jim Messina to characterize Wisconsin as a tossup in a video to supporters.
However, despite Walker’s victory and Republican gains in the 2010 mid-term elections, noted political analysts Larry Sabato and Charlie Cook still place Wisconsin in the “Lean Democrat” category.