Posted on 08/20/2015 1:25:51 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Scott Walker continues to face significant dissatisfaction among voters in his home state with his job approval dipping below 40 percent for the first time in a new Marquette Law School Poll released Thursday.
The poll also found Walker is leading other Republican presidential candidates in his home state, but has significantly less support than he did in April.
The poll found 39 percent of registered voters approve of Walker's job performance, while 57 percent disapprove. That 18-point gap is three points larger than it was in the previous Marquette poll in April, which saw a steep decline from polls taken before his re-election last November. The approval level is the lowest of all Marquette polls since January 2012.
"That’s notably underwater," poll director Charles Franklin said of the results.
Among a field of 17 Republican contenders, Walker received 25 percent support, still solidly ahead of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (13 percent), real estate mogul Donald Trump (9 percent), Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (8 percent), former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (both at 7 percent).
But that's a drop of 15 points from the 40 percent support he had in the April poll, before he entered the race. Trump, who leads in national polls, wasn't one of the options in the April poll.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also seen a drop in her support as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has surged. Clinton still leads with 44 percent, but Sanders, who recently held a large rally in Madison, received 32 percent support.
In a heads-up match-up Clinton has a 52-42 lead over Walker. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush fared the best in Wisconsin against Clinton, who still held a 47-42 edge.
Only 37 percent said Walker is "someone who cares about people like me" while six in ten respondents said Walker is "someone who is able to get things done." A third of respondents said they like Walker's decision to run for president.
The poll included 802 registered voters interviewed between Aug. 13 and 16. It had a margin of error of +/-4.3 percentage points. Republican primary questions had 334 respondents and a margin of error of +/-6.6 points. Democratic primary questions had 396 respondents and a margin of error of +/-6.1 points.
Johnson-Feingold rematch
The poll also found a tightening in the budding rematch between former Sen. Russ Feingold and incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson. Feingold still leads 47 percent to 42 percent, but that's much closer than the 54-38 margin in April, before Feingold announced he would run for the seat he lost to Johnson in 2010.
Feingold's campaign manager Tom Russell said in response to the poll that Feingold "expects this to be a close race."
"Russ is focused on hearing directly from Wisconsin families how to improve their economic well-being, because people deserve a Senator who doesn't just start showing up when he needs your votes," Russell said in a statement.
Johnson spokesman Brian Reisinger said Feingold "has been largely absent from Wisconsin and that helped him at first."
"But the more Wisconsin voters reacquaint themselves with Senator Feingold, the less they want to send him back to Washington," Reisinger said.
The poll found that after more than four years in office, Johnson continues to be widely unknown in the state, with 35 percent saying they haven't heard enough to form an opinion, compared with 25 percent for Feingold, who served three terms in the Senate. Only 22 percent say they haven't heard enough to form an opinion about Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, who first won statewide election in 2012.
State issues reviewed
A lot has happened in the three months since the last Marquette poll found Walker's approval rating at its lowest level in three years, including Walker officially announcing his candidacy (though he's been traveling the country extensively since January).
Walker signed a contentious state budget that cut University of Wisconsin funding by $250 million while freezing tuition, borrowed a record amount for roads while reducing other borrowing and raised park fees while keeping property taxes flat. His office also was involved in a widely criticized attempt to gut the state's open records law.
The poll found a plurality, 41 percent, think the state budget is in worse shape than it was a few years ago. Another 36 percent say it's in better shape and 19 percent say it's about the same.
It also found 58 percent of respondents don't think the UW System can absorb the state funding cuts, though 52 percent said it can absorb four years of frozen tuition.
Walker also approved a deal to provide $250 million in state and local taxpayer funds for a new Milwaukee Bucks Arena and signed a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks.
Asked about the abortion ban, 48 percent said they support it, while 44 percent said they were opposed.
In May, a State Journal investigation raised questions about the Walker administration's involvement in a $500,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. loan to a struggling Milwaukee company owned by a top Walker donor that has yet to be repaid. Walker has since scrapped the agency's loan program and removed himself as chairman of the board.
The poll found 49.5 percent of respondents think the state is creating jobs at a slower pace than other states. About 9 percent say it is creating jobs at a slower pace, and 36 percent say at about the same rate.
Overall, 46 percent said the state is headed in the right direction, whereas 52 percent say it's on the wrong track. That's a slight improvement from April when 43 percent said it was on the right track and 53 percent said it was headed in the wrong direction.
No good deed goes unpunished.
That being said, this is a poll of "adults" (not registered voters) with a sample of +10 Dems. Pretty much like the other MU polls that predicted Governor Mary Burke was a shoe-in.
We all know how that turned out.
“Governor Mary Burke was as [smart as] a shoe [horn].”
Fixed! :)
Walker is at 39% and they think the economy stinks. But Obama is at 49%.
And Hillary would beat Walker by 10 in his own state.
Ron Johnson is at 30% yet Feingold is at almost 50%.
Sounds like a big D+ poll.
This poll is bogus.
That being said, it REALLY wouldn’t bother me if he’d come back here and GOVERN. There is a LOT more to do in Wisconsin and he has no one groomed to take his place that I know of. LUCKILY, the Socialists in our state don’t either, Thank God! This Wisconsin Taxpayer is starting to feel a little bit USED by Governor Walker. Thanks for the candy, but the parade was waaay too short!
And I really, REALLY like him!
I remain unconvinced that NOW is his time. It took Reagan quite some time to be elected as Governor, THEN President.
Relax, Scott. You’re a young man with PLENTY of time to add more credentials to your Resume and to do a LOT more damage to the LibTards in Wisconsin. Now THAT would be an awesome legacy! President Walker ensuring that Wisconsin is governed by Conservatives for decades to come! :)
I honestly believe the outcome against Walker would turn out pretty much the same.
I see it a bit differently....the legislature is way more conservative than it used to be, in part as a result of Walker's example. They've actually gone beyond the agenda that Walker set this time around, and I think that might continue for a while.
Our bench is deep...you see that with subsequent elections to replace those who have moved up into other positions. By contrast, the Democrat party is pretty much decimated.
I'm ready to share the wealth with the rest of the country. We need a strong national economy in order to really get Wisconsin in better shape.
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