In Wisconsin governor's race, most voters 'just haven't tuned in'

MADISON - Six months from the August primary election, the majority of voters polled in a recent survey say they are not sure whom they will support for governor.

Sixty-five percent of registered voters said they are undecided on which of the seven major Democratic candidates for governor would earn their vote, while 63% said they were undecided in the Republican primary race, which consists of just U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany as its major candidate.

"This has less to do with the individual vagaries of the race and has a lot to do with the fact that Wisconsin voters just haven’t tuned into any of this year’s elections here in February," said poll director Charles Franklin of the high percentage of undecided voters. The Feb. 25 poll showed similar levels of undecided voters in this year's race for Supreme Court justice.

Among Democrats, state Rep. Francesca Hong and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes are neck and neck in support among Democratic primary voters, with Hong leading Barnes at 11% and 10%, respectively. But a whopping 65% of voters say they are undecided.

“It does show that that name ID advantage that Barnes enjoys has not translated into any comparable big advantage in the vote choice," Charles said about the results.

Barnes is by far the most well-known within his field, with 39% of voters saying they don't have an opinion about him. Of the voters who do, 34% have an unfavorable view of Barnes, while 27% have a favorable view.

Barnes has the name ID benefit of having been on a statewide ballot twice: in 2018, in his successful bid for lieutenant governor, and in his failed 2022 attempt to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.

His favorable ratings were more positive than negative when he was least known, Franklin noted, adding it’s not unusual to see that shift through the course of a campaign with negative advertising.

The next most well-known is Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. Nineteen percent have an unfavorable view, while 14% have a favorable view. But 67% say they don't have an opinion.

State Rep. Francesca Hong, a Democrat representing Madison, also has a 14% favorable rating among primary voters, while 15% say they have an unfavorable opinion.

On the Republican side, more than half of registered voters − 53% − have no opinion of Tiffany. Among those who do have an opinion, 34% view him favorably and 39% view him unfavorably.

The pollsters were in the field between Feb. 11 and Feb. 19. They surveyed 818 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points. Questions about preference within the respective partisan primaries had a smaller sample size, with a margin of error of +/- 6.3 percentage points.