Marquette Poll shows support for impeachment has slipped in Wisconsin as Trump leads 4 top Democratic rivals

Bill Glauber | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Support for impeachment has slipped in Wisconsin, according to Wednesday's Marquette University Law School Poll.

And for the first time, President Donald Trump has surged ahead of all four top Democratic rivals in potential head-to-head matchups.

Just 40% of Wisconsin registered voters believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 53% disagreed, according to the survey

The poll of 801 registered Wisconsin voters was conducted Nov. 13 through Sunday, during the opening week of public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry.

In October, before public testimony began, the Marquette poll showed that 44% said the president should be impeached and removed while 51% said he should not be.

Diving deeper into this month's numbers on impeachment, 52% said Trump asked the Ukraine president to investigate his political rivals, while 29% said he did not. Forty-one percent said Trump held up military aid to pressure the Ukraine president while 38% said he did not.

"We don't know how this story is going to end. At the moment just over half think there was an ask," Marquette Poll director Charles Franklin said.

Forty-two percent believe Trump did something seriously wrong, 9% thought he did something wrong, while 38% said he did not do something wrong.

In head-to-head matchups, Trump led former Vice President Joe Biden by 47% to 44%, within the poll's margin of error. In August, Biden led the president by 51% to 42%.

"Call it a small advantage to Trump," Franklin said.

Trump led U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 48% to 45%, and had a lead of 48% to 43% over U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Trump had a significant advantage over South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 47% to 39%.

"Republicans have moved 2 or 3 or 4 points in the president's direction, whether it's on vote preference or support for him over impeachment," Franklin said. "Democrats have become just a little bit, again 2, 3, 4 points less opposed to the president whether it's on impeachment or on vote" preference.

Marquette used a half sample of voters to poll Trump against U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.

Trump led Klobuchar by 50% to 36%, while Booker led the president, 45% to 44%, well within a margin of error of plus or minus 5.8%.

"There are more younger voters in the Booker half sample than the Klobuchar half sample," Franklin explained.

With 30% support, Biden was the first choice of those who say they'll vote in the April Democratic presidential primary. Sanders was at 17%, Warren slipped from 24% in October to 15%, Buttigieg was at 13% and Booker and Klobuchar were at 3% each.

Ten percent did not know who they would support.

Voters' views on the economy are also looking up, with 42% saying the economy has improved in the last year and 35% saying it would be better next year.

Last month, Trump's job approval was 46%, against 51% disapproval. He ticked up to 47% approval in November. Voters approved of his handling of the economy by 55% to 43% disapproval. Just 55% approved of Trump's handling of foreign policy against 52% disapproval.

Only 37% said the president's foreign policy has helped America's standing in the world while 53% said his policy has hurt.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' job approval was 47% against 42% disapproval. It has slipped since October, when 52% approved of the job he was doing, while 34% disapproved.

"He's still net positive, so that's the good news for him," Franklin said. "But a fair drop since August when we saw him at plus 20, down to plus 5 now."

Forty-eight percent approved of the way the Republican-led Legislature is doing its job against 39% disapproval.

The state Senate recently rejected Brad Pfaff as the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed hadn't heard a thing about the episode. Of those who did, 22% said the Senate did the right thing, while 25% said the legislative body did the wrong thing.

The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 4.1%. On the Democratic primary poll, the margin of error was plus or minus 6.4%.