Wisconsin Survey Shows Slight Majority Say State Is ‘Heading In Right Direction’

According to the new Wisconsin Survey by Wisconsin Public Radio and St. Norbert College’s Strategic Research Institute, more than half of Wisconsin residents believe the state is headed in the right direction.

About 51 percent of respondents think things are going well in Wisconsin, down from 57 percent in the spring.

Wendy Scattergood, a St. Norbert College political scientist and an analyst with the school’s survey center, said that the upcoming election has people feeling less optimistic.

“People are a little bit more skeptical — they’re paying a little bit more attention to what’s going on. They’re also examining the policies of the incumbents a little bit more,” said Scattergood.

When asked how often they can trust the state government to do what’s right, only 2 percent said “always,” while 54 percent said “some of the time.”

Residents were also asked how they’d rate economic conditions in Wisconsin. About 51 percent said conditions were “good,” while 13 percent said conditions were “poor.” Scattergood said that’s good news for Walker.

“We do know that that that correlates pretty highly with the way that people vote,” said Scattergood. “So if people think the economy is doing pretty well, they tend to stick with the incumbent.”

The poll shows Walker polling at 47 percent and Burke at 46 percent among likely voters.

St. Norbert College surveyed 603 Wisconsin residents between Saturday and Tuesday over landline and mobile phone connections to conduct the poll. About 33 percent of the respondents identified as Republican, another 33 percent as Democrat, and 28 percent as Independents.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.