Attorney General Candidates Are In Dead Heat In Latest Marquette Poll

The latest Marquette University Law School poll finds that the race for Wisconsin attorney general is a close one.

The poll completed late last week shows that the Democrat in the race — Jefferson County DA Susan Happ — is polling at 39 percent, while the Republican — Waukesha County DA Brad Schimel — ​is at 38 percent. Among likely voters, Schimel leads Happ 42 to 41 percent. Those leads are both within the poll’s margin of error.

The poll also shows most people still don’t know the candidates very well. Of those who do, 12 percent view Happ favorably, while 14 percent view her unfavorably. The polls shows 8 percent view Schimel favorably, while 6 percent view him unfavorably.

Marquette pollster Charles Franklin said the lack of knowledge about the attorney general candidates must be frustrating: “It’s enough to make you buy television advertising,” he said.

Franklin said with ticket-splitting declining in the state, voters may just figure they’ll opt for the attorney general candidate of the same party as gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker or Mary Burke, especially if at some point familiarity with Happ and Schimel plateaus.

Franklin said the new poll also shows about half of registered voters don’t know much about eight-year incumbent Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

Exactly 800 registered Wisconsin voters were surveyed for the poll through phone calls made last Thursday through Sunday. Of those people, 589 were designated “likely voters.”