The Wisconsin Supreme Court chambers. (Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)
Wisconsin voters view both candidates in this spring’s state Supreme Court race slightly unfavorably, according to a poll released by the Marquette Law School Wednesday, but many voters still don’t know enough about either candidate to have an opinion.
The poll did not assess how the candidates, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, would fare in a head-to-head matchup.
The poll, which surveyed 864 registered voters in the state between Feb. 19-26, found that 29% of those surveyed have a favorable view of Schimel and 32% have an unfavorable view. Although Schimel is a former Republican state attorney general who has previously run two statewide campaigns, 38% of voters said they didn’t know enough about him.
After the poll’s release, the Schimel campaign said Wisconsin’s liberals were repeating the mistakes that allowed President Donald Trump to win the state in November and characterized Crawford as “deeply flawed” and having “an extreme ideologically driven agenda.”
Both candidates have been the subjects of negative ad campaigns by their opponents and opponents’ allies.
Crawford had a lower favorability rating than Schimel, but far more voters still don’t know enough about her. The poll found that 19% of voters have a favorable view of her while 23% have an unfavorable view, but 58% still haven’t heard enough to form an opinion. That includes 54% of surveyed Democrats who say they don’t know enough about the liberal candidate in the race.
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