MILWAUKEE – Wisconsinites from all over the state got to their polling places on Tuesday to cast their ballots. There were winners and losers, and the political scientists are able to use the data to paint a picture of Wisconsin’s political climate.
As the presumptive nominees, President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump won both of their respective partisan primaries. But neither candidate won unanimously, at least 20% of the Republican vote did not go towards Former President Trump. During an appearance on Wisconsin’s Afternoon News Director of the Marquette Law School Poll Dr. Charles Franklin said those results are not out of the ordinary compared to previous elections.
“That means the divisions we saw in the early primaries are still there,” said Dr. Franklin. “That’s only 1 in 5 Republicans that chose someone other than the presumptive nominee, but 1 in 5 is still a fairly significant amount.”
Dr. Franklin acknowledged that President Biden also did not experience a completely united voter base. 11% of Democratic voters in Wisconsin voted ‘Uninstructed’. Other states have seen groups of voters cast similar votes, largely as a protest to the President’s handling of the war in Gaza. According to Dr. Franklin, Dane County had the highest rate of ‘Uninstructed’ ballots at 14%. It was both President Biden’s and Former President Trump’s worst county in Wisconsin.
With the fall elections getting closer, Dr. Franklin says he feels turnout will be a critical factor: “The main thing we should mention is turnout (this spring) was just under 1.2 million,” Dr. Franklin said. “Remember, in 2020 the turnout was 3.3 million. So that means there are probably 2.1 million people that will vote in the fall that didn’t vote (Tuesday).
A new poll from the Marquette Law School poll will be released on Thursday, April 4th.
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