Following an unsuccessful presidential bid, a new Marquette Law School Poll released today finds Gov. Scott Walker’s job approval at 37 percent with 59 percent disapproval among Wisconsin voters. The 37-percent approval number is the lowest for Walker since Marquette began polling it.
The poll found that 35 percent of people polled say they would like to see Walker seek a third term as governor in 2018 while 62 percent would not. Support among Republican voters for a third-term bid is 79 percent.
Other findings include Donald Trump moving into first place among Wisconsin Republican voters with 20 percent support. He is followed by Ben Carson at 16 percent, Marco Rubio at 14 percent and Carly Fiorina at 11 percent. The remainder of the field includes Jeb Bush at 7 percent, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul each at 5 percent, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie and John Kasich each at 3 percent, Rick Santorum at 1 percent and Bobby Jindal, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore at less than 1 percent. Lindsey Graham receives no support.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads with 42 percent, followed by Bernie Sanders with 30 percent, and Joe Biden at 17 percent. Martin O’Malley receives 1 percent with Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb at less than 1 percent. In August, Clinton was at 44 percent, Sanders was at 32 and Biden was at 12 percent.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Democrat Russ Feingold is supported by 50 percent of registered voters while Republican incumbent Ron Johnson receives 36 percent support. In August, the race was tighter, with Feingold at 47 percent to Johnson’s 42 percent. In April, Feingold received 54 percent to Johnson’s 38 percent.
“Only 55 percent of registered voters are able to say if they have a favorable or unfavorable view of both candidates. Seven percent can rate Johnson but not Feingold while 18 percent can rate Feingold but not Johnson,” said Marquette Law School Professor Charles Franklin, director of the poll. “And 19 percent are unable to rate either candidate. This is a recipe for volatility until the campaign moves into full swing.”
The poll was conducted from September 24 to 28. The full sample includes 803 registered voters interviewed by cell phone and by landline, with a margin of error of +/-4.1 percentage points. Results for the Republican nomination are based on 321 registered voters who consider themselves Republicans or independents who lean to the Republican Party. The Democratic results are based on 394 Democrats or independents who lean Democratic. The margin of error for the Republican sample is +/-6.5 percentage points and for the Democratic sample it is +/-5.9 percentage points.
Looking ahead to possible general election preferences of Wisconsin voters, the poll found these results in head-to-head match-ups:
Clinton 50 percent, Bush 38 percent.
Clinton 48 percent, Rubio 40 percent.
Clinton 50 percent, Trump 36 percent.
Sanders 49 percent, Bush 39 percent.
Sanders 49 percent, Rubio 36 percent.
Sanders 53 percent, Trump 34 percent.
