Mary Spicuzza and Patrick Marley

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Gov. Tony Evers has strong support for much of his agenda, a poll released Thursday found.

On health care, school funding, the minimum wage, criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization and redistricting, voters backed the new Democratic governor's positions, according to a poll by Marquette University Law School.



"The people overwhelmingly agree with Governor Evers that we should accept federal funds to expand Medicaid, increase funding for special education, raise the minimum wage, and take steps toward marijuana legalization," Evers’ spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said in a statement.

Nearly 50 percent of voters also saw Evers as trying to cooperate with GOP legislative leaders, while only 22 percent saw Republicans in Madison as doing the same.

Not everything went Evers' way in the poll. Many voters said they don't know enough about him to say whether they approve of the job he's doing, and more voters approved of the job GOP lawmakers are doing than the one Evers is doing.

But on most issues, voters sided with Evers.

That’s welcome news for the new governor, who has had a series of bad headlines in recent days as he reversed himself on his attempts to get the state out of a lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

RELATED:Tony Evers reverses course, won't direct Josh Kaul to withdraw from Obamacare lawsuit after all

Forty-eight percent want to get out of that lawsuit, as Evers does, while 42 percent want to continue it, as Republican lawmakers are doing.

Nearly two-thirds of voters — 62 percent — wanted to use Obamacare funds to expand the state’s BadgerCare Plus program to provide health care to more people — an idea Evers has championed. Twenty-five percent agreed with GOP lawmakers and opposed the expansion.

An overwhelming 72 percent of those polled said they support legislative and congressional district boundaries being drawn by a nonpartisan commission rather than the state Legislature, as Evers favors. That's compared to just 18 percent who said the Legislature should continue to draw the boundaries.

It was the first time Marquette pollsters have asked about nonpartisan redistricting, poll director Charles Franklin said.

Long-running litigation over Wisconsin’s legislative maps is expected to go to trial this summer.

RELATED:Court delays Wisconsin's gerrymandering trial for at least three months

Republican lawmakers have argued its best to have them in charge of redistricting, but Franklin noted that there was support for overhauling the drawing of district maps from Republicans and Democrats alike.

"Redistricting has been a major battle over the last number of years, and yet we find 72 percent that would favor a nonpartisan redistricting commission, and that includes 62 percent of Republicans and even more of independents and Democrats," Franklin said. "So this is an issue that you might expect big party polarization, but it's absolutely not there. And the public overwhelmingly prefers a nonpartisan commission."

Taxes, schools and the minimum wage

Fifty-five percent supported spending more on schools over cutting property taxes, while 39 percent supported cutting taxes over putting more toward schools.

And nearly three-quarters of voters wanted to see a major increase in special education funding, an idea opposed by 20 percent. Evers wants to spend $600 million more on special education over two years. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau has called that too much.

Fifty-five percent supported raising the minimum wage, as Evers does, while 39 percent oppose an increase.

Criminal justice reform, road funding

A small majority — 51 percent — supported releasing inmates after they serve two-thirds of their sentences. Thirty-four percent opposed that idea. Evers has said he wants to pursue criminal justice reform — including early release of some inmates — but hasn’t put a specific plan forward.

Evers has sought more money for roads, but he did not get good news Thursday on that issue. Fifty-two percent opposed raising taxes or fees for transportation, while 42 percent support doing so. Republicans are split on the issue and Franklin said the poll shows raising the gas tax is a "hard sell."

Fifty-nine percent wanted to legalize marijuana, while 35 percent opposed the idea. Evers backs full legalization but says he wants to start by making medical marijuana legal. Republican lawmakers have greeted the idea coolly.

Lame-duck session, bipartisanship

Fifty-five percent of voters disapproved of the lame-duck legislation Republicans approved in December that limited the powers of Evers and new Attorney General Josh Kaul, also a Democrat. Thirty-one percent approved of the measures.

Not quite half — 47 percent — said Evers was trying to cooperate with Republican lawmakers, while a quarter said he was not and 28 percent said they don’t know if he is.

Public opinion is reversed on how they think GOP legislative leaders are acting. Just 22 percent thought they’re trying to cooperate with Evers, while 46 percent said they're not interested in cooperating. About a third say they don’t know.

Thirty-nine percent approved of the job Evers is doing and 22 percent disapprove. Thirty-eight percent said they don’t know what they think yet.

The numbers are better for the Republican Legislature, with 52 percent approving of the job it is doing and 31 percent disapproving.

Walker, Trump approval ratings

Since losing to Evers, former Republican Gov. Scott Walker has left open the possibility he would run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2022. Voters weren’t crazy about that notion; 53 percent said they don’t want him to run and 37 percent said they do.

For now, 49 percent of voters view Walker favorably and 45 percent view him unfavorably.

On the federal level, 43 percent of voters say President Donald Trump was most responsible for the partial government shutdown over the border wall. Another 7 percent say Republicans in Congress are responsible, while 34 percent blamed Democrats and 14 percent said all are equally responsible.

"Both of them are suffering in the sense that there is a ‘pox on both your houses,’ " Franklin said. "But, that doesn't mean that it's all equally balanced, in that Trump takes more of the credit or blame for the shutdown. But it's mostly blame."

A narrow majority of voters — 51 percent — said they oppose building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, while 44 percent supported it.

Just 29 percent of voters support the federal shutdown, while 66 percent oppose it.