MADISON – Five months before the August primary election, Wisconsin voters are barely tuned into the upcoming race for governor.
A new Marquette University Law School poll released March 24 shows the majority of Wisconsin voters are still undecided on their preferred candidate for governor.
Sixty-five percent of registered voters said they are undecided on which of the seven major Democratic candidates for governor would earn their vote, while 54% said they were undecided in the Republican primary race, which consists of just U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany as its major candidate.
The results show little change from Feb. 25, when 65% of Democratic voters and 63% of Republican voters said they were undecided.
Among Democrats, state Rep. Francesca Hong again leads the field at 14% of voters surveyed picking her as their preferred candidate. Following Hong is former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes at 11%. The rest of the field received 3 percentage points or less.
“This race is just isn’t developing at this point,” Charles Franklin, poll director, said at an event showcasing the poll results.
On the Republican side, 50% have no opinion of Tiffany. Among those who do have an opinion, 26% of voters view him favorably and 24% view him unfavorably.
Among Democrats, Barnes has the most name ID, with 43% of voters lacking an opinion. Thirty-one percent of voters view him unfavorably, compared to 25% with a favorable view. Hong is still unknown by 75% of voters, and is viewed unfavorably by 15% and favorably by 13%.
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is the only Democrat without a net negative approval rating (hers is neutral at zero), but 68% of voters don’t know enough about her to have an opinion.
Inflation drew the highest level of concerns among voters, with 93% saying they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about it. Following inflation were health insurance, jobs and the economy, housing affordability and public schools.
The pollsters were in the field between March 11 and March 18. They surveyed 850 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points.
(This story was updated to add new information and a video.)
Molly Beck and Jessie Opoien can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com and jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New poll finds Wisconsin voters not engaged in governor’s race
Reporting by Molly Beck and Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
