New Law School Poll Results: Romney Rebounds, Governor’s Race Is Tight

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has rebounded strongly from a month ago among people expecting to vote in Wisconsin’s Republican presidential primary April 3, according to new results for the Marquette Law School Poll. In February, Romney trailed former Sen. Rick Santorum by 16 points in Wisconsin, but he now leads Santorum by eight points, 39% to 31%, the poll found.

Romney has also narrowed the gap between himself and Democratic President Barack Obama, if the presidential election were to be held today and they were the two major candidates. But Romney continues to trail Obama in Wisconsin – by five percentage points in the new poll, compared to 15 points a month ago – and Obama is ahead of other Republican candidates by 10 points or more.

The results of the third monthly round of the Law School’s year-long polling project show the looming recall election for governor remains very close. When all poll respondents were asked their preference in possible matchups, Republican Gov. Scott Walker led Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett by two percentage points, while Walker led Democratic candidate Kathleen Falk by four points.

Barrett has not announced yet if he will run. If he does, the poll indicated he would have more support than Falk among people intending to vote in a Democratic primary. If he does not, Falk would have a large lead over candidates such as State Rep. Kathleen Vinehout and Secretary of State Doug La Follette. The primary election for governor is expected to be held on May 8, with a final election on June 5.

The results of the polling, which was conducted from March 22 to 25, were released Tuesday at an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” session at the Law School featuring Professor Charles Franklin, visiting professor of law and public policy and director of the poll. The video of that session can be viewed by clicking here. The full poll results can be viewed by clicking here. And a five minute video of Franklin being interviewed by Mike Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy,  can be viewed by clicking here.

 

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Don’t Be Afraid to Go to Law School, Minority Students Told

Lovell Johnson recalls a guy he looked up to in high school, a guy he thought could really succeed in life. Several years later, he ran into the guy. The guy was driving a cab. Nothing wrong with driving a cab, Johnson said as he counted the anecdote. But the guy said to him he could have gone to law school and made more of himself. And he didn’t.

Johnson decided he didn’t want to be like that guy. That guy was afraid to apply to law school; he was afraid to fail. So was Johnson. But Johnson overcame that, took the plunge, became a lawyer, and has been a well-known and successful Milwaukee County assistant district attorney for years.

“Don’t be afraid,” Johnson told about 150 Milwaukee high school students Thursday at a Youth Law Day conference at Eckstein Hall. “Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do it.”

That was one of the strong underlying themes as the students from a half dozen schools got a dose of knowledge about what it’s like to be a lawyer and a lot of encouragement to pursue that possibility.

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NAACP Leader: Photo ID Lawsuit Carries on 140 Years of Voting Rights Struggles

With its challenge to Wisconsin’s voter ID law, the NAACP is carrying on a struggle for voting rights that dates back to the post-Civil War era, James Hall, president of the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP, told the Law School’s Mike Gousha and an audience of more than 100 during an “On the Issues” session last week.

Hall, president of the organization since January 2011, emphasized the importance of voting and the long history in America of disenfranchising minorities and low income people by use of rules about voting. “There is so much repeating history,” he said.

The NAACP suit against the law, passed by the Wisconsin legislature in 2011 and requiring people to present an acceptable form of photo identification at the polls, led to a Dane County judge putting a halt to enforcement of the law through a temporary injunction a week ago. More legal action in that suit and other challenges to the law is expected in advance of the statewide election on April 3.

Hall, a practicing lawyer whose NAACP position is unpaid, said there were fewer than 20 prosecutions for voter fraud in Wisconsin in recent years. “Why, all of a sudden, this move to require a photo ID?” Hall said. “Certain types of people don’t have that.” Many of them are African American, he said. “In fact, it is a disenfranchisement law.”

The law was supported generally by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. Supporters said it was a sensible way to reduce chances of voter fraud, while opponents said its practical effect would be to put up barriers to voting for many low income people who don’t have drivers licenses.

Hall told Gousha that the civil rights organization, founded in 1909, remains very relevant. “across the country and particularly here in Milwaukee.” He said the city has some of the largest disparities in the country between African Americans and whites when it comes to income, employment, incarceration, and educational achievement.

Milwaukee and its leaders have not responded with the intensity that is needed to deal with the problems facing many black people in Milwaukee, Hall said. He said, “No, there is not the sense of urgency we would like.” He said the NAACP wants to work together with people from throughout the Milwaukee area in solving problems. “It is in our enlightened self-interest to address these disparities,” he said.

The Eckstein Hall session may be viewed by clicking here.

Continue ReadingNAACP Leader: Photo ID Lawsuit Carries on 140 Years of Voting Rights Struggles