'Don't ignore Wisconsin:' Milwaukee political expert reacts as Marquette Law School poll finds Biden, Trump in a dead heat

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Although we're still months out from the election, the race for who will become America's next president is well underway.

Now, a recent Marquette Law School poll, which interviewed more than 800 people over the course of a week in early April, is showing both top candidates in a dead heat, with former president Donald Trump coming out on top at 51% support from both registered and likely voters.

“It’s just amazing how we’ve become the center of the political universe," said UW-Milwaukee Professor Emeritus Mordecai Lee. “You don’t ignore Wisconsin. You campaign in Wisconsin; you show that you care about Wisconsin.”

Lee added that poll readers also need to consider the margin of error which is at +/- 4.8 percentage points.

This comes ahead of Wednesday, May 1, when Trump is set to visit Waukesha and speak at the Expo center in the early afternoon amid his current trial in New York.

“He’s got one day off and he said, I want to spend my time rationally and coming to Wisconsin is the most rational thing he can do," Lee said.

It'll mark his second trip to the key battleground state in the past month, after previously visiting Green Bay on April 2.

“Their thinking is, maybe coming to Wisconsin would help me. Maybe I’d meet more people, maybe some people would hear my message, maybe that’s help me win," Lee said.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Dr. Jill Biden have also visited the state multiple times over the last couple of months.

“Here we are, this itty-bitty state, compared to all the big states like Florida and Texas and California," Lee said. "And we’re going to elect the next president.”