POLL: Wisconsin Is Not Nearly The Cinch Democrats Wanted

by Neetu Chandak

Wisconsin’s gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races are looking tight as candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties have nearly equal support, according to a poll released Wednesday.

A Marquette Law School Poll surveyed likely Wisconsin voters between Aug. 15 to Aug. 19.

The poll found incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers both received 46 percent for the preferred vote.

Libertarian candidate Phil Anderson received a preference of 6 percent while 2 percent did not have any particular lean.

Walker had an approval rating of 48 percent while 45 percent disapproved and 6 percent were unsure as of August 2018.

The race is also tight for a Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin had 49 percent of support while Republican Leah Vukmir had 47 percent support, with 3 percent saying they did not have any particular lean.

President Donald Trump won the state for the 2016 election, with 47.2 percent of the vote flipping the state red, according to The New York Times. While 55 percent of likely voters believed Trump kept his promises, 44 percent of the likely voters also believed Trump changed the Republican Party for the worse.

Voters in the state found the most important issues as jobs and the economy, education and health coverage.

An additional part to the survey gauged important issues within the state and the nation. Nearly half of the sample was asked about state issues while the other half was asked about national issues.

The majority of the state-half sample believed the Foxconn plant, a company that makes flat screens, would financially benefit the Milwaukee area, marijuana should be legalized and regulated, and the focus should be on increasing spending on public schools than reducing property taxes.

The national-half sample found more voters thought tariffs would hurt the economy than help it and the majority did not want a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

This poll interviewed 800 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cellphone.

When it came to state issues, the sample size was 411 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points. The national issues survey had 389 subjects with a margin or error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points.

The sample size for likely voters was 601 people with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. The full sample of 800 voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.