Final Republican senatorial debate tonight

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Wisconsin voters will get their final chance tonight to see how the four Republican U.S. Senate candidates measure up against each other. A one-hour debate will be shown live at eight o’clock by its sponsors – Wisconsin Public Television, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and W-T-M-J T-V of Milwaukee. The debate comes just four days before Tuesday’s primary, in which voters will decide who will go up against Democrat Tammy Baldwin in November for the right to replace the retiring Herb Kohl. A poll taken Wednesday and yesterday by the Public Policy Polling firm shows the three runners in a dead heat. Eric Hovde had 27-percent, Tommy Thompson 25, and Mark Neumann 24 – and all were within the poll’s four-point-two percent margin of error. Jeff Fitzgerald was fourth with 15-percent. A Marquette poll earlier this week gave Thompson an eight-point lead over Hovde, with 21-percent of likely primary voters still undecided. Ideally, tonight’s debate would help the undecideds make up their minds. But according to Marquette pollster Charles Franklin, research shows that if people are still undecided close to an election, there’s a higher chance they won’t vote. State officials have predicted a 20-percent turnout for Tuesday.

Tags: news, wisconsin, government, politics