Wisconsin voters' opinions of Gov. Scott Walker (R) have slipped since last fall, a new Marquette University Law School survey finds.
Forty-one percent now approve of Walker's performance, while 56 percent disapprove. In October, 49 percent approved and 47 percent disapproved.
Marquette is the only non-partisan pollster to survey Wisconsin since the 2014 midterms. The results, coming after years of relatively steady ratings for the governor, could represent either a significant outlier from earlier polling or a marked drop in Walker's standing.
The survey finds an especially sharp drop among political independents, who approved of Walker by a roughly 3-point margin last year but now disapprove by a 24-point margin. While Republicans still support him by an overwhelming 73-point margin, that's down from nearly 90 points in October.
As the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes, Walker, a likely GOP 2016 contender, has spent increasing amounts of his time traveling, both to other states and abroad. Two-thirds of Wisconsin voters, including 69 percent of independents, say it's not possible for a governor to run for president and still handle the duties of their office. Walker also faced controversy from both the left and the right over his proposal for a new basketball arena, which voters overwhelmingly oppose.
Marquette surveyed 803 registered Wisconsin voters between April 7-10, using live interviewers to reach both landlines and cell phones. The partisan composition of the poll matched closely with that of the 2014 survey.
Before You Go
