New Marquette poll shows Evers, Baldwin up in favorability

A new poll has some bad news for Gov. Scott Walker as he seeks a third term.

The Marquette University Law School poll released Tuesday showed that 52 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of Walker. Forty-five percent have a favorable opinion.

Walker's favorability numbers had been generally on the rise since they bottomed out after his failed run for president in 2015.

The poll shows Democrat Tony Evers slightly ahead of Walker, 49 percent to 44 percent. That comes after the August poll showed them about even.

The director of the poll, Charles Franklin, said, those who participated in the poll are extremely opinionated about Gov. Walker. They are very passionate about supporting him or very much against his ideas and that will have an impact on the general election.

"[Strong opinions] reduces the amount of room for that race to move," said Franklin. "So, I might think that stays a narrower range whereas the U.S. Senate race maybe has a bigger range to move in because the opinions are not a divided and as strongly set as they are in the governor's race."

Voters were also asked about the U.S. Senate Race.

Results show that Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin's favorability numbers are in better shape than her opponent Republican Leah Vukmir.

The numbers show 48 percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Baldwin, compared with 40 percent unfavorable.

For Vukmir, only 26 percent have a favorable opinion while 38 percent are unfavorable.

The poll showed Baldwin leading Vukmir 53 percent to 42 percent.

The poll comes after months of attack ads in both sides of the Senate race.

Franklin said both of the challengers in the Governor and U.S. Senate races have made gains over the last 6 months. "They are both now in the 30 percent range [among voters] who say they don't know enough about them to have an opinion. That is down from being in the 60 percent range few months ago."

He went on to say it will be interesting to see if Vukmir and Evers will be able develop that name recognition and convert it into votes.

The poll of 614 likely voters was conducted between Sept. 12 and Sunday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

With the election just seven weeks away, Republicans in Wisconsin are working to generate enthusiasm in the face of Democrats who say a blue wave is coming.

The Marquette poll was to measure enthusiasm on both sides and show where races for governor and U.S. Senate stand.

One thing Franklin said is not surprising is that voters are aligned with their party's candidate. He feels the big take away in the month's poll is Independents are the wild card in the election.

"In this month's poll, Independents are breaking pretty heavily in the democratic direction in both the governor and the senate races," said Franklin.

However, this momentum can fluctuate as the election inches closer. He said since Independents are not tied to the party their votes can be swayed by the course of the race as well as national events and issues.

Also on Tuesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers was to campaign in Milwaukee with former Attorney General Eric Holder.

The stop comes as Gov. Scott Walker has been voicing his support for protecting people with pre-existing conditions, even as he forges ahead with a lawsuit to strike down the national health care law that provides that guarantee.

Health care has also been a focus in the Senate race pitting Republican Leah Vukmir against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

To view all of the findings in the September 2018 Marquette University Law School Poll