The recent Marquette University Law poll for the upcoming gubernatorial election shows Democrats still have an unsettled race while candidates still jockey for first.
The poll, taken in early July, found State Rep. and Socialist Francesca Hong leading the Democratic field with 26% of the support. Following close is failed Senate candidate Mandela Barnes with 15%, and recently withdrawn candidate Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez with 11%. Joel Brennan and Kelda Roys rounded out the poll in the low single digits.
However, 45% of Democrat voters still remain undecided. After reallocating the Rodriguez supporters according to their second choices, Hong only rose to 27%, Barnes reached 18% and the undecided share also increased to 48%. (RELATED: Eric Toney Demands Investigation Into Rodriguez Campaign Finances)
This survey was completed before Rodriguez ended her campaign, and before Milwaukee County Executive Dvaid Crowley re-entered the race. Crowley had withdrawn July 8th, the first day of the survey, and endorsed Rodriguez a day later. Crowley then restarted his campaign on July 18th with an endorsement from Tony Evers, who was abstaining from endorsing a candidate before Crowley re-entered.
Also included in the poll was a question about the favorability of Democratic Socialists. The Democratic respondents said that 43% viewed the Democratic Socialists as unfavorable, compared to the 25% viewing them favorably. This leaves a net negative 18% rating, with 32% saying they “haven’t heard enough.” Francesca Hong, the current leader of the Democratic field, has been identified as a Democratic Socialist since she entered the State legislature. The Democrats are trying to get support behind David Crowley, the less extreme candidate they believe can beat the GOP’s Tom Tiffany. (RELATED: Sara Rodriguez Drops Out of Wisconsin Governor’s Race Amid Campaign Finance Questions)
Some absentee voters have already submitted their ballots for the Democrat primary. However, former candidates Rodriguez and Missy Hughes were printed on said ballots when they were returned, making them able to garner support away from current candidates. There have been more than 80,000 absentee ballots returned, prompting Wisconsin Democrats to request the Wisconsin Election Commission to let voters spoil their ballots, and cast updated ballots.
