The latest Marquette University Law School Poll released Wednesday shows the race between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic rival Mary Burke to be tied among registered voters. Walker has a slight lead among likely voters.

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The race for governor between incumbent Republican Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Mary Burke is tied among registered voters, according to the latest Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday.

They each have 46% of the vote, with 5% undecided, the poll said.

Among likely voters, Walker leads Burke 49% to 46%.

Poll director Charles Franklin called it a statistical dead heat.

In August, Walker led Burke among registered voters 47.5% to 44.1%, while Burke led Walker among likely voters, 48.6% to 46.5%.

Franklin said the story of the race, so far, is this: There's no front-runner.

"You don't see either one of them establishing a really clear lead," Franklin said.

The Walker and Burke campaigns both saw positives in the poll.

Walker spokeswoman Alleigh Marré noted the improving economy during Walker's tenure and said, "We're confident that voters will want to continue building on this momentum with Governor Walker and have no desire to return to the failed policies of the past with Mary Burke."

"That this race remains too close to call shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone," said Joe Zepecki, speaking for the Burke campaign, as he criticized Walker's record on jobs and the state budget.

In the race for attorney general, Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, the Democratic candidate, leads Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel, a Republican, by 39% to 38%, among registered voters. In August, Happ led, 40%-33%.

Among likely voters, Schimel leads Happ, 42% to 41%.

But one caveat: Most voters still don't know much about the candidates to become the state's top lawyer.

Here are five take-aways from the poll:

Rising GOP enthusiasm. Franklin said polls in July and August showed Democrats more likely to vote than Republicans.

But in September, the balance shifted, with 80% of Republicans saying they are certain to vote in November compared with 73% of Democrats and 69% of independents.

For the first time in 24 Marquette polls, self-identified Republicans held an edge in the survey sample.

Franklin cautioned that the poll could be an outlier.

But he also noted that the last time there was an unusual shift in the poll sample was two years ago when Democrat Tammy Baldwin pulled ahead of Republican Tommy Thompson in the race for the U.S. Senate.

Candidate image. Burke has been running for nearly a year, and 29% of those polled say they still don't have an opinion about her.

But Burke's image is still positive, with 36% viewing her favorably compared with 35% unfavorably.

The Walker favorable number moved slightly in the governor's direction, with 49% viewing him favorably and 45% unfavorably.

Walker's job approval number also rose slightly, with 49% approving of the way he is handling his job compared with 46% disapproval.

Just 44% say "able to get things done" describes Burke compared with 64% for Walker, while 42% say Burke has been clear enough about what she would do as governor compared with 57% for Walker.

Race of the unknowns. Attorney general may be a big job, but voters don't really know either candidate — 76% lack an opinion on Happ and 86% lack an opinion on Schimel.

They shouldn't feel bad, though. Fifty-one percent of voters lack an opinion on J.B. Van Hollen, who has held the job nearly eight years.

Happ's unfavorable number ticked up from 7% in August to 14% in September, perhaps a sign that conservatives broke through when they questioned her role in dropping charges in a child sex assault case.

Democrats countered that Schimel's office mishandled a child porn case.

The state we're in. Fifty-four percent say the state is headed in the right direction, compared with 42% who say the state is on the wrong track.

Forty-one percent say the state budget is in better shape than a few years ago, that's down from 45% in August. Since the last poll, news broke of projections of a budget shortfall over the next two years.

On jobs, 42% say the state lags other states in job creation, a 6-point improvement from August when 48% said the state was lagging others.

Key issues. With a court ruling that reinstated voter ID in the November election, the poll indicated that photo identification to vote is favored by 61% and opposed by 35%.

There is a partisan bent, though, with 87% of Republicans and 62% of independents backing photo ID, compared with just 33% of Democrats.

The Affordable Care Act remains controversial among Wisconsin voters, with 40% having a favorable view of the law and 50% an unfavorable view.

But 61% say the state should accept federal money to expand Medicaid coverage, with 29% opposed. Walker has blocked such funding; Burke has said she would try to expand Medicaid.

When asked about their views on statewide voucher expansion, 18% would have no limit on the number of seats available outside Milwaukee and Racine, 21% said they would support raising the current limit of 1,000 students statewide, 19% backed the current limit, while 38% would end the expansion.

The poll of 800 registered Wisconsin voters was conducted by interviews on cellphones and landlines Thursday through Sunday.

The margin of error was plus or minus 3½ percentage points.

Among those polled were 589 people who said they were registered and likely to vote.

The margin of error on that sample was 4.1 percentage points.