The governor's approval rating is now 45 percent, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday. That's up slightly from the last poll, released in October 2016, when 42 percent of voters said they approved of Walker's job performance. Since September, Walker's approval rating has hovered in the low 40s.

The new numbers mark Walker's highest approval rating since just before he won re-election in November 2014. He went into that election, against Democrat Mary Burke, with a 49 percent approval rating.

The governor's approval rating exceeds those of his colleagues in the state Legislature. Thirty-eight percent of voters said the approve of the job Republican lawmakers are doing, while 36 percent said the same of Democrats.

Walker has all but announced his plans to seek re-election, but says he won't make anything official until after the state budget process is complete.

He introduced his 2017-19 budget proposal last month.

According to the new poll, 29 percent of voters said they think the state budget is in better shape now than it was a few years ago, while 28 percent said it's about the same and 33 percent said it's worse.