Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin goes into
next week's election with a 4 point lead over her Republican rival
Tommy Thompson.
Thompson and Baldwin are competing to
replace retiring Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl.
According to the final poll before
voters decide on November 6 by the Marquette University Law School,
Baldwin has a 4 point lead, 47 to 43 percent. Two weeks ago,
Thompson held a slim 1 point lead.
If elected, Baldwin would become the
nation's first openly lesbian senator.
The subject of Baldwin's sexuality
became an issue early in the fall when a Thompson staffer criticized
Baldwin's orientation just hours before she was to give her prime
time speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Brian Nemoir, political director for
the Thompson campaign, sent an e-mail and tweeted messages
highlighting her appearance at a 2010 Gay Pride event.
Referring to Baldwin's assertion that
her speech would focus on “heartland values,” Nemoir wrote,
“Clearly, there's no one better positioned to talk 'heartland
values' than Tammy,” and attached a link to a video showing Baldwin
dancing on stage with the disco band VO5 as it played the theme from
Wonder Woman.
Thompson apologized five days after the
incident, and another aide told reporters that Nemoir had “acted on
his own.”