Marquette poll takeaways: Kamala Harris campaign rejuvenates Wisconsin Democrats
Vice President Kamala Harris' entry into the presidential race has been a shot in the arm for Wisconsin Democrats, according to a Marquette University Law School poll of Wisconsin voters released Wednesday.
It was the first installment of the poll since President Joe Biden, a Democrat, withdrew from this fall's election contest against former Republican President Donald Trump. An overwhelming majority of those polled supported Biden's decision last month.
Harris is now running neck and neck with Trump in Wisconsin, with the GOP nominee at 50% among registered voters and the vice president at 49%. Since Harris entered the race, the percentage of Democrats who say they are very enthusiastic about the contest has surged, the poll found.
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The new poll surveyed 877 registered voters, between July 24 and Aug. 1. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.6 percentage points. There were 801 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 points.
Here are the key takeaways from the poll:
Wisconsin voters happy to see Biden step aside
Nearly four in five registered voters in the state said they supported Biden's decision to exit the race in July following his disastrous debate performance against Trump on June 27.
Among Democrats, the figure was 91%.
But that doesn't mean there is universal disdain for the first-term Democratic president.
Only one-third of those polled said they believe Biden should step down as president, while 58% asserted that he should stay on through the end of the term in January. Biden also saw a small uptick in his job approval for the first time this year.
Asked who they would have supported if Biden remained in the race, 47% chose Trump while 42% picked Biden.
Enthusiasm gap all but erased for Democrats in Wisconsin
In June, Democrats were far less enthusiastic about Biden than Republicans were about Trump. Poll director Charles Franklin said Democrats were in a state of near depression.
No more.
Overall, the percentage of Wisconsin registered voters who said they were very enthusiastic about the fall election stands at 61%, up from 46% in June. The jump was due largely to Democrats, with 62% saying they are excited about voting in November, compared to 40% two months ago.
Still, Trump holds a small lead in this area.
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Slightly more than half of Republicans said they were very enthusiastic to vote for him, while 47% of Democratic voters said they were excited about casting a ballot for Harris.
The poll was taken after Harris announced her candidacy but before she secured the nomination through a virtual roll call of delegates on Friday.
Immigration falls slightly as a top issue for voters
Earlier this year, immigration and border security were the second most important issue among registered state voters. Now it has dipped to No. 3.
In its place in the No. 2 slot is abortion policy.
Both issues remain highly partisan. Only 1% of Democrats listed immigration as the state's most important issue, compared to about a quarter of Republicans. Abortion was identified as the main topic by only 5% of Republicans, while it was listed as the most important issue this fall by Democrats.
The top issue among all groups, by far, was the economy.
Tammy Baldwin fares better than Kamala Harris or Donald Trump
Do Wisconsin voters think highly of anybody on the ballot?
A majority aren't particularly fond of Biden, Harris or Trump. All have higher unfavorable ratings than favorable ones.
It is interesting that the percentage of Wisconsin voters who gave Trump a favorable rating bumped up to 44% from 41% in June. Franklin noted the poll was taken after the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump and the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin had higher marks than any of the presidential contenders. The same percentage of respondents gave her favorable marks as unfavorable. Overall, the poll found Baldwin is leading Republican businessman Eric Hovde among registered voters by 53% to 46%
Gov. Tony Evers, who is not on the ballot this fall, did best of all. The survey showed 51% rated him favorably while 44% did not.
Is Donald Trump 'too old' to be president?
For much of the year, Biden was dogged by concerns about his age. He is 81.
But now that he is out of the race, that is now suddenly an issue for the 78-year-old Trump.
"It flips the script," Franklin said.
Nearly three in five voters told the pollster that they think Trump is "too old" to be president. Only one in eight said the same about Harris. She is 59.
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette poll takeaways: Harris campaign rejuvenates Wisconsin Democrats
