Perceptions of impeachment toward President Donald Trump have remained largely unchanged following public congressional hearings, according to a new Marquette University Law School Poll.
The poll, released Dec. 12 and conducted Dec. 3-8, found 40% of Wisconsin voters in favor of impeachment, while 52% are opposed and 6% are undecided.
In October, prior to any public testimony, 46% of voters said there was enough cause for impeachment, 49% said there was not enough cause and 5% said they did not know, according to the October Law School Poll.
The December poll also saw differences among party identification. Among Democratic voters, 81% supported impeachment while over 90% of Republican voters were opposed to the idea.
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School’s Poll, released the results in a presentation moderated by Mike Gousha at Eckstein Hall’s Lubar Center in an event closed to the public due to Marquette’s final exams. The poll, which consisted of responses from 800 registered voters in Wisconsin, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2%.
Surveys were administered both before and after public hearings regarding Trump’s alleged dealings with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The commander-in-chief is accused of asking Zelensky to investigate political rivals as well as withholding military aid from Ukraine to pressure Zelensky into compliance.
Amidst the impeachment debate, Trump has reached his highest approval and lowest disapproval rating in Wisconsin since registered voters were polled in mid-January. According to this month’s poll, Trump’s approval ratings are at 47%, with disapproval ratings only coming out on top by a slim margin at 50%.
In reference to Trump’s management of the economy, 53% of voters surveyed approved and 45% disapproved.
In terms of foreign policy, voters were less likely to favor Trump’s dealings, with 43% in approval and 54% in disapproval.
The latest survey also included questions regarding Democratic presidential candidates. Of those voting in the Democratic primary, 23% said Joe Biden was their first choice to win the nomination, followed by Bernie Sanders at 19%, Elizabeth Warren at 16%, Pete Buttigieg at 15% and Cory Booker at 4%.
When these candidates were rated in terms of favorability, Sanders won out, followed by Biden, Warren, Buttigieg and Booker, in that order.
Although leaders are emerging amid the primary, people still remain in a “persuadable stage,” Gousha said.
Only 34% of Democratic primary voters said they were fully certain in their choice of candidate.
When asked to choose between incumbent Trump and the five most popular Democratic candidates in the general election, voters favored Biden over Trump but Trump over Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg and Booker. However, in each matchup, the margin between Trump and any one candidate did not exceed 2%.
When prompted to summarize the poll, Franklin said the state has a very close presidential race in terms of both the primary and general elections, as well as divided impeachment views even following public congressional testimony.
“This is what a battleground state looks like,” Franklin said.
This story was written by Nicole Laudolff. She can be reached at [email protected].
