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Poll: Voters unfamiliar with governor candidates
A new Marquette Law poll found most Wisconsin voters have not yet decided who they'll vote for in next summer's governor race primary.
MILWAUKEE - A new Marquette University Law School poll found most Wisconsin voters – Republicans and Democrats alike – have not yet decided who they'll vote for in next summer's gubernatorial primary.
Race for Wisconsin governor
By the numbers:
If you're a candidate named "undecided," Wisconsin loves you right now.
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In the three-way Republican primary for governor, the poll found 70% of registered voters have not made up their minds. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany got 23%, while Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann hit 6%.
The poll found even more Democrats, 81%, have not made up their minds. All seven candidates are in single digits:
- Francesca Hong, 6%
- Sara Rodriguez, 4%
- David Crowley, 3%
- Kelda Roys, 3%
- Missy Hughes, 2%
"Really, it's late spring or even summer," pollster Charles Franklin said of when, in past elections, people start to poll ahead. "Take Tony Evers in 2018. Even though he was, you know, head of the state school superintendent, he started out at about 15%, and I don't think he passed 30% name ID until late spring, May."
Dig deeper:
The poll found, in regard to awareness of the various governor candidates' campaigns for 2026, 57% of registered voters have heard a little and 37% have heard nothing at all – along with just 6% who said they have heard a lot.
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Those who have heard a lot or a little about the governor’s race are also substantially undecided, with 64% undecided in the Republican primary and 73% undecided in the Democratic primary.
More than 60% of registered voters said they haven’t heard enough or don’t know how they feel about the candidates.
What's next:
The primary for the governor’s race is on Aug. 11, 2026. The general election will be Nov. 3, 2026.
Key issues
By the numbers:
The Marquette University Law School poll found the most important issue for Wisconsin voters right now is inflation. Republicans and Democrats blame the opposite side for the government shutdown, while independents blame both parties.
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And there's one thing that brings Republicans and Democrats together: data centers. About 55% of both sides said data centers have more costs than benefits as more and more tech companies look to grow in Wisconsin.
"It’s really striking that this is an example of an issue, maybe because it's new, maybe because of the nature of the issues, that the party lines are simply not clear," Franklin said. "Voters therefore don't show any differences by partisanship on this new issue. Check back in a year or two years and see if that party divide has developed on this issue."
Methodology
By the numbers:
The latest poll was conducted Oct. 16-24 and involved interviewing 834 Wisconsin registered voters with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points, as well as 753 likely voters, also with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points. The full questionnaire, methodology and results can be found on the poll's website.
The Source: Marquette University Law School provided the information used in this report.