Emerson Poll: Ron Johnson's Lead Grows to Four over Mandela Barnes

Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) slight lead has expanded to a four point lead over “defund police” Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, an Emerson College poll revealed Tuesday.

Forty-eight percent of likely voters support Johnson’s reelection bid. Just 44 percent support Barnes after he falsely claimed law enforcement does not protect American citizens from being victims of crime, a 2020 video unearthed last week showed.

Six percent of respondents are undecided. Fifty-four percent expect Johnson to defeat Barnes. Only 46 say the same of the radical Democrat, who has pushed for defunding “over-bloated” police departments and allowing felons to retain the right to vote.

Spencer Kimball, Executive Director of Emerson College Polling said about the survey:

Johnson’s support for US Senate increases with voters’ age; 52% of voters under 35 support Barnes, voters between 35 and 49 are split with 46% supporting Johnson and 45% Barnes, voters between 50 and 64 break for Barnes 49% to 43%, and 54% of voters over 65 support Johnson.

The poll also found 49 percent of voters view Johnson favorably, four points more than voters view Barnes. Forty-eight percent view Johnson unfavorably, while 46 percent view Barnes unfavorably. Nine percent were unsure.

The survey polled 860 likely voters from September 16-18 with a 3.27 point margin of error.

Recent polling has shown Johnson and Barnes essentially tied within the margin of error with Johnson leading by one point. Other polls have shown Barnes leading by one point but still within the margin of error.

The Emerson poll represents a notable turnaround in downward trending futures for Barnes in recent weeks. The Democrat has campaigned in President Joe Biden fashion – by hiding from the press and evading the national spotlight. But as Labor Day passed and the midterm campaign has heated up, daily revelations are coming to light.

On Monday, news broke that one of Barnes’ two active duty police endorsements actually never endorsed him; 13,400 law enforcement officers are currently on the job in Wisconsin. Spokesman for Senator Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) campaign Alec Zimmerman slammed Barnes for lying about the people who support the pro-defund police candidate.

“This election is about who you can trust,” he said. “Mandela Barnes is hiding from his extreme support for defunding the police, releasing half the prison population, and abolishing ICE. Now he’s hoping voters won’t pay attention to his lies as he tries to play coverup.”

Barnes’s radical policies also include abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), permitting driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, and giving in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. He has derided small business owners as “selfish” for wanting to serve customers during the pandemic.