Marquette Law School released its latest poll of Wisconsin voters Wednesday, revealing a lack of knowledge on candidates as the state faces elections for Supreme Court and State Superintendent of Public Instruction on April 1.
Among those registered to vote in Wisconsin, 38% don’t offer an opinion on state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, saying they haven’t heard enough about him or they don’t know if they have an opinion of him. More than a majority of respondents, 58%, have no opinion of Schimel’s opponent, Susan Crawford.
The survey was conducted Feb. 19 to 26 with 864 registered voters in Wisconsin and a +/- 4.6 percentage point margin of error. The sample reported 36% Republican, 32% Democratic and 32% independent.
Voters who are absolutely certain to vote hold 37% favorability of Schimel, 27% for Crawford, 22% for Jill Underly and 23% for Brittany Kinser.
Voters who are somewhat enthusiastic or less than about voting are 21% for Schimel, 9% for Crawford, 9% for Underly and 6% for Kinser.
Schimel, formerly the state attorney general, entered into the race with the support of conservatives, who have already poured $2.7 million into his campaign. His campaign has recently come under fire for using non-disclosed AI in an attack ad on Crawford.
83% of respondents said that they were aware the election could tip the partisan balance on the Court while 15% expressed indifference to the election’s effect.
Trump approval rating remains steady from prior term as policy disapproval grows
President Donald Trump’s approval rating remained constant from the October 2020 poll that assessed voters’ opinions when he previously held office, reporting a 47% approval and 52% disapproval of his job performance among Wisconsin voters.
The new poll found that 48% of Wisconsin voters approve of his performance six weeks into the new term, while 51% disapprove.
92% of Republicans approve of Trump while 97% of Democrats and 60% of independents disapprove.
Trump’s freeze on federal spending and attacks on agencies was seen as beyond his authority by 59% of voters despite 40% saying that he can freeze funds without congressional approval.
Approval of Elon Musk’s presence in government is positive among 41% of voters and negative among 53%, with 97% of Democrats and 58% of independents holding him in disfavor.
Abortion, schools major policy issues
Among Wisconsin voters, 64% said they favored legal abortion in most or all cases, similar to the 63% reported in the October 2024 poll.
People across the state said they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the state of their community’s public schools at a level of 58%, a drop from the 66% reported in October. Voters also showed a 41% dissatisfaction rate, an increase from the 35% reported in October.
Gov. Evers, Legislature, Supreme Court approval rating mixed
Approval of Evers’ job as governor was expressed by 49% of voters while 44% expressed disapproval, marking a slight decrease since October, which polled him at 51% approval and 45% disapproval.
The Legislature is seeing 38% approval and 49% disapproval with 13% of respondents having no opinion.
Wisconsin Supreme Court approval ratings are at 46%, disapproval stands at 37% and 16% with no response.
