Michels whips up Grafton crowd at rally stop as neck-and-neck race enters the homestretch

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GRAFTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Tony Evers and Tim Michels are locked in a virtual tie, according to the final Marquette Law poll of the election cycle. Both are polling at 48%.

With less than a week to go before election day, both candidates are scraping for every last vote on the campaign trail.

Michels took his message to Ozaukee County Wednesday, where his familiar themes of cutting down on rising crime and high inflation, and giving parents choice in schools were well received by a favorable crowd.

That crowd had one thing on their minds when Michels walked through the doors of a Grafton restaurant.

Michels told them, "People are ready for a change. They're ready for a new governor, and we're going to beat Tony Evers!"

In a 15-minute speech he hammered home his well-honed campaign themes, saying, "Inflation is up, crime is up, education test scores are down, and your 401k values are down."

Supporters said his message was exactly what they wanted to hear.

Kenneth Schmidt of Cedarburg said, "Being retired, my standard of living is going down every year."

And Phyllis Damrow of Newburg said her top issues are "Better education, better police funding."

Michels also portrayed Democrats as weak on crime, saying, "And these catch-and-release DAs? I'm going to fire them!"

He pledged to protect election integrity, despite saying at a rally in Jackson County earlier this week "Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I'm elected governor."

On Wednesday he clarified, saying, "When we do that, people are going to say, 'I want more of that.' That's why the hardworking families, the hardworking men and women of Wisconsin are gravitating towards my candidacy. They're going to want more of that for generations to come."

But throughout the night, his message to the diehard supporters was clear. He closed by telling them, "It has to change. We are going to fire Tony Evers!"

The Michels campaign has not yet publicized where his election night watch party will take place, but they did confirm it will be in southeastern Wisconsin. They added more information will be released Friday.

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