Charles Franklin
Republican Brad Schimel has a slight advantage over Democrat Susan Happ in the race for attorney general among likely voters, according to the latest Marquette University Law School poll. Schimel has a 4 point lead, with support from 43 percent. Happ receives 39 percent, with 14 percent saying they are undecided.
Poll Director Charles Franklin says the race remains tied among registered voters, 40 to 40, with 16 percent undecided.
With just a few days before the election, voters still are not familiar with the candidates hoping to replace the outgoing J.B. Van Hollen, who opted against seeking a third term in office.
“When you’re presented with these names — Susan Happ, Brad Schimel — do you know who they are right away?” Franklin explains the survey question. “That’s not a problem much with the governors race, it’s very much a problem with the attorney general’s race.”
More than 70 percent of registered voters say they haven’t heard enough or don’t have an opinion of them. Brad Schimel is the Waukesha County district attorney, Susan Happ is the Jefferson County district attorney.
The poll shows 37 percent of registered voters say the attorney general should appeal when a court strikes down a state statute or constitutional provision while 46 percent say the attorney general should use his or her judgment as to whether an appeal is likely to be successful.
This poll interviewed 1,004 registered Wisconsin voters, by both landline and cell phone, Oct. 9-12, 2014. The margin of error is +/- 3.2 percentage points for the full sample. The sample included 803 likely voters. The margin of error for likely voters is +/- 3.5 percentage points.