A new poll from Marquette University Law School found an even tighter race for Wisconsin’s Democratic Senate ticket between Alex Lasry and Mandela Barnes. Lt. Gov. Barnes was favored by 19% of respondents while Lasry, a Milwaukee Bucks executive, was favored by 16%.
These numbers have changed dramatically since February, when Barnes was favored by 23% and Lasry by 13%. Lasry’s campaign has since increased TV ads, spending $4.4 million on ads since last fall. Barnes' campaign has not entered the TV ad space.
“48% still don't know who they'll vote for. That's unchanged," said poll director Charles Franklin. “A tightening of the race but no evidence that people are making up their minds."
Incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson’s favorable rating also increased from 33% to 36% since February. 46% of people polled disapproved of Johnson, relatively unchanged since the last poll.
Gov. Evers approval rating has stayed roughly the same since the last poll at 49%. 60% approved of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rebecca Kleefisch is favored to win the Republican nomination for the gubernatorial race, having the support of 32% of respondents. However, this poll was conducted before Tim Michels, owner of energy and infrastructure construction company Michels Corporation, entered the race.
Republican voters still question the results of the 2020 election, highlighting partisan divides. According to the poll, a sizable majority, 62%, expressed doubt in the validity of the election results.
However, only 21% of Republicans questioned the outcomes of the recent April 2022 elections, indicating conservatives’ election doubts might be confined to 2020.
"People were very confident about the election we just held,” said Franklin “I think that maybe suggests that it’s not about the elections or the way we’re holding them, it's about the argument about 2020 rather than the underlying doubt about how elections are conducted in this state.”
Only 13% of Wisconsin voters approve of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman’s review of the 2020 election, with 27% disapproving. 25% said that the Legislature should vote to decertify the results of the 2020 election. 64% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats, however, had not heard of this ongoing review.
"The Republicans who are most upset about the election as a group are the least knowledgeable about this investigation that is going on and I just find that interesting," Franklin said.
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