Gov. Scott Walker
A new Marquette University Law School Poll shows Governor Scott Walker’s efforts to reconnect with voters statewide appear to be falling short.
The poll released Thursday shows the Republican governor with a 39 percent job approval rating, with 55 percent disapproving. It’s up just slightly from an approval rating of 38 percent in a similar poll that was conducted in January.
Walker’s approval rating took a hit from the more than 50 percent support he enjoyed before launching his presidential bid last year. After suspending his campaign last fall, Walker said he hoped to tour the state and build up support again among Wisconsin voters. He’s held listening sessions in several locations since then.
Poll director Charles Franklin said it could likely take some time for Walker’s approval numbers to “spring back” to where they were around the time he won re-election in 2014. He noted that it took between six to 12 months for the governor to recover in the aftermath of his fight with union groups in 2011, during the height of the Act 10 controversy that eventually led to the recall targeting Walker. “The idea that these numbers spring back for anyone overnight is not very realistic,” Franklin said.