Thomas Tiffany

Crowley held a 7 percentage point advantage over Tiffany among likely voters

The final Marquette University Law School poll ahead of Wisconsin’s Nov. 3 election shows Democrat David Crowley leading Republican Tom Tiffany by 7 percentage points in the race for Wisconsin governor.

It was the largest lead yet for Crowley since Marquette began polling between the two candidates.

Marquette surveyed 818 registered Wisconsin voters between Oct. 14-22. The sample included 668 likely voters.

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The results show 51 percent of likely voters said they’d vote for Crowley, while 44 percent said they’d vote for Tiffany. Another 4 percent said they were undecided.

Across the entire pool of registered voters, Crowley led Tiffany 47-44 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.7 percent for likely voters and 4.3 percent for registered voters.

In Marquette’s last poll taken in late September, Crowley was leading Tiffany by 3 points among likely voters and 1 point among all voters.

Independent voters were largely responsible for Crowley’s improving numbers.

Of those who said they’re likely to vote, 62 percent said they’d vote for Crowley, while 22 percent said they’d vote for Tiffany. In last month’s survey, Crowley’s support among independents had been slipping.

“So, independents are coming in, they are making up their minds, and they’re going for Crowley pretty significantly,” said Marquette pollster Charles Franklin.

Independents also viewed Crowley far more favorably than Tiffany in the latest poll.

Among all independent registered voters, 31 percent view Crowley favorably, while 39 percent view him unfavorably. For Tiffany, 20 percent of those independents view him favorably, while 57 percent held an unfavorable view. “Though Crowley is seen unfavorably by independents, Tiffany is especially seen unfavorably by them,” said Franklin.

Wisconsinites’ view of the job President Donald Trump has been doing during his second term has declined steadily since February, according to a string of Marquette polls.

The results from October show Trump has hit a new low, with just 37 percent of all registered voters approving of the job he’s doing and 61 percent disapproving.

The survey also found 67 percent of respondents say Trump’s policies, like his tariffs and the war in Iran, have increased inflation, while 19 percent of registered voters said they think those policies have decreased inflation. Unsurprisingly, inflation and the cost of living remains top of mind for voters, with 48 percent of Marquette respondents listing it as their most important issue. Illegal immigration and border security came in a distant second with 12 percent of registered voters listing it as their most important issue.

The race for Wisconsin Attorney General has been far more muted than the contest for governor, and that was reflected in Marquette’s polling.

The October survey showed large majorities of voters said they hadn’t heard enough about Republican Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney or two-term Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. Among all registered voters, 72 percent said they don’t know much about Toney, while 56 percent hadn’t heard enough about Kaul despite his nearly 8 years serving as attorney general.

Among those who had, 23 percent reported having a favorable view of Kaul, while 13 percent had a favorable view of Toney.

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