Marquette University Law School Poll released a new statewide poll on Wednesday, April 27th. Below, please find a summary of the survey’s results.
Quick Hits on the Poll
- Favorability 44% (Was 42% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 52% (Was 53% in Feb. poll)
- Favorability 43% (Was 43% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 53% (Was 52% in Feb. poll)
- Favorability 47% (Was 47% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 42% (Was 41% in Feb. poll)
- 49% Approve (Was 50% in Feb. poll)
- 43% Disapprove (Was 41% in Feb. poll)
Sen. Ron Johnson Favorability -10%
Note: 18% of Registered Voters did not register an opinion
- Favorability 36% (Was 33% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 46% (Was 45% in Feb. poll)
Sen. Tammy Baldwin Favorability +7%
Note: 20% of Registered Voters did not register an opinion
- Favorability 43% (Was 42% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 36% (Was 36% in Feb. poll)
Background on Survey
Marquette University Law School released their April poll this Wednesday. Below, please find the methodology of the poll as released by the Law School in their press release:
About the Marquette Law School Poll
The poll interviewed 805 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone between April 19th and 24th, 2022. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percentage points for the full sample.
The partisan makeup of the sample, including those who lean to a party, is 45% Republican, 44% Democratic, and 9% independent. The partisan makeup of the sample, excluding those who lean to a party, is 29% Republican, 28% Democratic and 44% independent.
Complete results can be found here:
National Politics
- Favorability 44% (Was 42% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 52% (Was 53% in Feb. poll)
- Favorability 43% (Was 43% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 53% (Was 52% in Feb. poll)
President Joe Biden
The MU Law School Poll found that 43% of registered voters approve of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president, and 53% disapprove of the way he is handling his job, a net -10% in job approval.
For comparison, in the last MU Law School survey in February 2022, 42% of registered voters approve of the job the president was doing and 53% disapprove of the way he is handling the job, a net -9% approval.
President Biden’s personal favorability tracks very similar to his job approval with 44% of registered voters having a favorable opinion of him and 52% having an unfavorable opinion of him, a net -8% favorability. Those numbers are slightly better than the February poll which found that 42% of registered voters had a favorable opinion of the President and 53% had an unfavorable opinion, a net -11% favorability.
Among voters who identified as Democratic or leaning Democratic, Biden is viewed favorably by 85% and unfavorably by 12%. Independents were 27% favorable and 67% unfavorable, while Republicans were 9% favorable and 89% unfavorable.
- Favorability 36% (Was 36% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 58% (Was 57% in Feb. poll)
Trump Favorability
President Biden’s -8% net favorability is significantly better than former President Trump’s favorability, which now sits at a -22% net favorability in the latest poll.
Among voters who identified as Republican or leaning Republican, Trump is viewed favorably by 68% and unfavorably by 24%. Independents were 27% favorable and 55% unfavorable, while Democrats were 5% favorable and 94% unfavorable.
National Issues
Concern about Inflation
- Very concerned: 69%
- Somewhat concerned: 23%
- Not too concerned: 6%
- Not at all concerned: 1%
Concern about Illegal Immigration
- Very concerned: 38%
- Somewhat concerned: 18%
- Not too concerned: 22%
- Not at all concerned: 21%
Congress
Sen. Ron Johnson Favorability -9%
Note: 18% of Registered Voters did not register an opinion
- Favorability 36% (Was 33% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 45% (Was 45% in Feb. poll)
US Senator Ron Johnson (R-Oshkosh):
36% of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Republican US Senator Ron Johnson and 45% have and unfavorable opinion of him. Sen. Johnson’s -9% favorability is a slight increase from his -12% favorability (33% favorable-45% unfavorable) in the February 2022 survey.
About 67% of Republicans and leaning Republicans said they had a favorable opinion of Johnson, compared to 26% of Independents and 7% of Democrats and leaning Democrats.
About 15% of Republicans and leaning Republicans said they had an unfavorable opinion of Johnson, compared to 49% of Independents and 78% of Democrats and leaning Democrats.
Additionally, respondents were asked if Johnson could be described as someone who “cares about people like me.” 39% of respondents said yes while 50% said no.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin Favorability +7%
Note: 20% of Registered Voters did not register an opinion
- Favorability 43% (Was 42% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 36% (Was 36% in Feb. poll)
43% of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Democratic US Senator Tammy Baldwin and 36% have and unfavorable opinion of her. Sen. Baldwin’s +7% favorability is a slight increase from her net +6% favorability (42% favorable-36% unfavorable) in the February 2022 survey.
About 73% of Democrats and leaning Democrats said they had a favorable opinion of Baldwin, compared to 31% of Independents and 15% of Republicans and leaning Republicans.
About 8% of Democrats and leaning Democrats said they had an unfavorable opinion of Baldwin, compared to 33% of Independents and 65% of Republicans and leaning Republicans.
State Politics
Governor Evers
Governor Tony Evers Favorability +5%
- Favorability 47% (Was 47% in Feb. poll)
- Unfavorability 42% (Was 41% in Feb. poll)
- 49% Approve (Was 50% in Feb. poll)
- 43% Disapprove (Was 41% in Feb. poll)
Governor Tony Evers’ job approval has slightly decreased with 49% of registered voters saying they approve of the job Governor Evers is doing and 43% saying they disapprove (+6% net approval). This is a 3-point swing since the February survey when 50% said they approved and 41% disapproved of the job Gov. Evers was doing (a net +9% approval).
When only looking at those with the most intense opinions, 25% of respondents said they strongly approved of the job Governor Evers was doing compared to 30% who said they strongly disapproved.
83% of Democrats and leaning Democrats said they approved of Evers, compared t0 45% of Independents and 16% of Republicans and leaning Republicans.
77% of Republicans and leaning Republicans said they disapproved of Evers, compared to 43% of Independents and 9% of Democrats and leaning Democrats.
- Strongly Approve: 34%
- Somewhat Approve: 26%
- Somewhat Disapprove: 14%
- Strongly Disapprove: 24%
- Strongly Approve: 26%
- Somewhat Approve: 25%
- Somewhat Disapprove: 14%
- Strongly Disapprove: 24%
2022 Elections
August 9th Partisan Primary
This month’s poll provides a baseline look at the status of the Republican Primary for Governor and the Democratic Primary for US Senate. 4 months out, the poll finds that 21% of registered voters who plan to vote in the Republican Primary don’t know who they will vote for nor do 22% of Registered Voters who plan on voting in the Democratic Primary.
- Rebecca Kleefisch: 27% favorable | 25% unfavorable
- Kevin Nicholson: 13% favorable | 7 % unfavorable
- Tim Ramthun: 5% favorable | 7% unfavorable
- Rebecca Kleefisch: 32%
- Kevin Nicholson: 10%
- Tim Ramthun: 4%
- Someone else: 3%
- Will not vote: 3%
- Mandela Barnes: 19% favorable | 16% unfavorable
- Sarah Godlewski: 12% favorable | 8% unfavorable
- Tom Nelson: 8% favorable | 5% unfavorable
- Alex Lasry: 16% favorable | 11% unfavorable
- Mandela Barnes: 19%
- Alex Lasry: 16%
- Sarah Godlewski: 7%
- Tom Nelson: 5%
- Will not vote: 3%
State Legislature
- Republicans/lean Republicans: 48% approve | 35% disapprove of job legislature is doing
- Democrats/lean Democrat: 28% approve | 57% disapprove of job legislature is doing
- Independents: 33% approve | 54% disapprove of job legislature is doing
State Issues
- Republican/lean Republican: 28% right direction | 66% wrong track
- Democrat/lean Democrat: 47% right direction | 46% wrong track
- Independent: 26% right direction | 64% wrong track
- Very concerned: 50%
- Somewhat concerned: 37%
- Not too concerned: 9%
- Not at all concerned: 3%
- Very concerned: 22%
- Somewhat concerned: 30%
- Not too concerned: 21%
- Not at all concerned: 26%
- Very concerned: 27%
- Somewhat concerned: 25%
- Not too concerned: 28%
- Not at all concerned: 9%
- Strongly favor: 33%
- Somewhat favor: 26%
- Somewhat oppose: 11%
- Strongly oppose: 23%
- Favor: 69%
- Oppose: 26%
- Favor: 16%
- Oppose: 82%
April 2022 Election
Public confidence in the administration and security of the April 2022 elections across the state is generally high, especially compared to the November 2020 election.
When asked about their confidence in vote counting across Wisconsin in the April election, 52% said they were very confident while 32% said they were somewhat confident. Only 7% said that they were not too confident and another 7% said they were not confident at all.
- 32% of Republicans said they were very confident, while 44% said they were somewhat confident. 10% said they were not too confident while another 11% said they were not confident at all.
- 77% of independents were somewhat or very confident in the vote totals.
- 96% of Democrats said they were somewhat or very confident.
November 2020 Election
Republican voters continue to express doubts about the results of the 2020 presidential election, with only 15% saying they were very confident about its accuracy and 21% saying they were somewhat confident. 21% said they were not too confident while 41% said they were not at all confident.
A majority of independents, on the other hand, said that they had confidence in the results of the election, with 59% saying they were either very or somewhat confident. 94% of Democrats said they were also very or somewhat confident.
Additionally, 25% of respondents said that the State Legislature should decertify the 2020 presidential election while 62% said it should not.
The difference in opinion split heavily along partisan lines:
- 36% of Republicans said they supported decertification while 50% said they did not.
- 13% of Democrats said they supported decertification compared to 78% who said they did not.
Gableman Investigation
The poll also asked respondents about their opinion of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman’s investigation into the 2020 presidential election, which was commissioned by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).
13% of respondents said that they approved of the review while 27% said they disapproved. 57% said that “haven’t heard enough” to have an opinion. The proportion of respondents who approved increased by 2 percentage points and the proportion without an opinion decreased by 8 percentage points compared to the October 2021 poll, while the proportion of those who disapproved remained the same.
Among Republican respondents, 21% approved and 13% disapproved. Among Democratic respondents, 4% approved and 43% disapproved.
Enthusiasm for Voting in November
57% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans said they were very enthusiastic about voting in the November 2022 election.
Notably, among Republicans respondents, those who are not confident about the results of the 2020 presidential election are more enthusiastic about voting in November (69%) than those who are very confident in the results (46%).
About Us
If you would like any additional information about the above topic, or if you would like to find time to discuss the above matter in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact your Michael Best Strategies contact.
Have a great day,
Wisconsin GR Team
