Governor's Race: Wisconsin 2010

Link to September 24 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, "Eyes on Barrett as Kind opts out of governor's race".

Excerpt: "There will be an immense amount of pressure brought to bear on him," said one prominent Democratic activist. "People will really expect that it's now going to be Tom."

Kind's move caught the party by surprise, just as Doyle's bombshell decision did in mid-August.

A few weeks ago Kind seemed like a near-lock to run. Barrett was recovering from an assault outside the State Fair and scrambling to deal with a gloomy city budget. One or the other would run, observers believed.

But a poll now circulating among supporters of the party showed Barrett way ahead of Kind on name recognition and essentially in a dead heat with Scott Walker in a head-to-head matchup. Walker, the Republican Milwaukee County executive, is in a contest with Mark Neumann in the GOP primary next fall.