Scott Walker leads new Wisconsin recall poll

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A new poll in Wisconsin has Scott Walker holding a growing lead over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the upcoming recall election.

The Republican governor holds a six-point lead over Democrat Barrett, 50 to 44 percent, among likely voters surveyed by Marquette Law School, May 9-12. The poll's margin of error for likely voters was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

The results represent a five-point increase for Walker over Barrett since Marquette's previous poll in late April.

The findings released this week by Marquette mirror those released by other polling outlets.

Public Policy Polling recently conducted a survey on the recall race for liberal site Daily Kos which showed Walker leading Barrett 49 to 45 percent. That poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Activists launched a recall effort against Walker following his 2011 war on state public employee unions. Barrett was chosen by state voters in the May 8 primary to face Walker in the June 5 recall.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday that the monthly jobs report from the Department of Workforce Development showed 6,200 private sector jobs lost in the state in the month of April. The newspaper noted that the validity of the monthly report has been questioned.

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