Gov. Scott Walker leads the field of presidential candidates among Wisconsin Republicans, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll released today.
Walker held 25 percent of Republican respondents’ support in the race for president, while political pundit and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson had 13 percent, Real estate developer and television personality Donald Trump held 9 percent, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz had 8 percent, Former business executive Carly Fiorina had 7 percent and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio had 7 percent of the support. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush held 6 percent of Wisconsin Republicans’ support, while all other Republican candidates had 4 percent or less of those polled.
Poll director Charles Franklin described the change in Republican standings as a notable shift.
The poll surveyed 802 Wisconsin residents, 334 of whom identified as Republican or leaning Republican, and 396 of whom who said they were Democrat or leaning Democrat. The margin of error for the whole sample was 4.3 points.
Walker’s support has declined among the state’s Republicans. In April, he held 40 percent of support, Rand Paul, held 10 percent, and all other candidates had less support.
Among Wisconsin Democrats, Hillary Clinton holds the lead 44 percent. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders pulled 32 percent of support, while Vice President Joe Biden held 12 percent and other candidates had less than 1 percent.
Clinton has also lost some favor among the state’s Democrats. In April, she had 58 percent, Biden held 12 percent and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren had 14 percent. Sanders was not yet included in that poll.
In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Russ Feingold lost ground to Republican Ron Johnson. Feingold held 47 percent of support, down from 54 percent in April. And Johnson had 42 percent, up from 38 percent in April.
“We’ve seen some tightening of that race,” Franklin said.
