MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds 40% of adults approve of the job the U.S. Supreme Court is doing, while 60% disapprove. In July, 38% approved and 61% disapproved. Both results show a large decline in approval of the Court from the levels found in 2020 and early 2021. 

The Marquette Law School Poll previously found that nationwide approval of the Court dipped in September 2021 and again following the leaked opinion in May 2022 that preceded the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, as shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages; the precise wording of the questions can be found in the online link noted above.)

Table 1: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Supreme Court is handling its job?

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove
9/8-15/20	66	33
7/16-26/21	60	39
9/7-16/21	49	50
11/1-10/21	54	46
1/10-21/22	52	46
3/14-24/22	54	45
5/9-19/22	44	55
7/5-12/22	38	61
9/7-14/22	40	60

Confidence in the Court has also declined since 2019; 37% then had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence, whereas 30% have similar confidence in September 2022. Those with very little or no confidence increased from 20% in Sept. 2019 to 36% in September 2022. The full trend is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Here is a list of institutions in American society. How much confidence do you have in each one? . . . The U.S. Supreme Court.

Poll dates	A great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None at all
9/3-13/19	8	29	42	16	4
9/8-15/20	12	28	45	13	3
7/5-12/22	9	19	28	28	16
9/7-14/22	10	20	34	26	10

The latest Marquette Law School Supreme Court survey was conducted Sept. 7-14, 2022. The survey interviewed 1,448 adults nationwide and has a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.

The public continues to oppose the Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade by a wide margin. The decision is opposed by 61%, while 30% favor the ruling and 10% say they lack an opinion. This trend is shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Do you favor or oppose the following recent Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? . . . Overturned Roe versus Wade, thus striking down the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states.

Poll dates	Heard nothing at all	Heard of but not enough for an opinion	Heard of and favor the decision	Heard of and oppose the decision
7/5-12/22	2	10	31	57
9/7-14/22	3	7	30	61

A very large share of the public says they have “heard a lot” about the Court’s abortion decision, as shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? . . . A Supreme Court decision on abortion.

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
7/5-12/22	81	15	3
9/7-14/22	84	13	3

On the Court’s major decision this past June that the Second Amendment protects the right to possess a gun outside the home, a plurality of the public (38%) supports the decision, with 29% opposed and 33% who say they lack an opinion. This trend is shown in Table 5. Awareness of this decision declined slightly since July survey.

Table 5: Do you favor or oppose the following recent Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? . . . Ruled that the 2nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” protects the right to carry a gun outside the home.

Poll dates	Heard nothing at all	Heard of but not enough for an opinion	Heard of and favor the decision	Heard of and oppose the decision
7/5-12/22	7	21	40	31
9/7-14/22	11	22	38	29

The amount that respondents have heard or read about the Second Amendment ruling has decreased since July, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? . . . A Supreme Court decision on the right to possess a gun outside the home.

Poll dates	A lot	A little	Nothing at all
7/5-12/22	47	36	16
9/7-14/22	31	48	21

Members of the public have come to think the Court should pay more attention to public opinion in reaching its decisions than was their view in September 2020, when 44% said the Court should consider public opinion and 55% said it should not. By contrast, in the current survey, two years later, 61% say public opinion should be considered and 39% say it should not be considered. The trend is shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Should justices of the Supreme Court consider public opinion about a case when making decisions or should they ignore public opinion?

Poll dates	Should consider public opinion	Should ignore public opinion
9/8-15/20	44	55
9/7-16/21	41	59
7/5-12/22	54	46
9/7-14/22	61	39

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to begin its October term in less than two weeks from now. In the new term, the Court will hear cases on whether race may be considered in college admissions and whether religious beliefs afford a basis in the law for businesses to deny some services to LGTBQ customers, among others.

The survey finds that the public is skeptical of the use of race in admissions, with 37% in favor of banning the use of race, while 13% are opposed to such a ban. The case is not top of mind for most respondents, however, with 50% saying they haven’t heard anything about the case or have not heard enough to have an opinion.

Polling on this topic since September 2021 has seen consistent opposition to the use of race in admissions, as shown in Table 8. Those saying they haven’t heard anything or haven’t heard enough to have an opinion increased this year, from 33% in March to 50% in September.

Table 8: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? . . . Rule that colleges cannot use race as one of several factors in deciding which applicants to admit.

Poll dates	Heard nothing at all	Heard of but not enough for an opinion	Favor	Oppose
9/7-16/21	19	14	53	13
3/14-24/22	16	17	49	17
9/7-14/22	28	22	37	13

Another case set for argument before the Court poses the question whether the religious beliefs of business owners can, under the law, justify refusing to provide some services to LGBT customers. A plurality (35%) oppose a decision allowing a business to refuse services, while 21% favor such a ruling. As with college admissions, an increasing number—a substantial 44%—have not heard of this case or have not heard enough to have an opinion. The trend in opinion on this question is shown in Table 9.

Table 9: Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion? . . . Decide that a business owner’s religious beliefs or free speech rights can justify refusing some services to gay people.

Poll dates	Heard nothing at all	Heard of but not enough for an opinion	Heard of and favor the decision	Heard of and oppose the decision
3/14-24/22	11	17	28	43
9/7-14/22	24	20	21	35

Looking back to earlier decisions, a substantial majority (70%) favor the Court’s 2015 ruling establishing a right to same-sex marriage, while 29% are opposed. Public opinion on this is largely unchanged in this year’s polling, which on this matter goes back to May, before the Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The trend is shown in Table 10.

Table 10: In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Poll dates	Strongly favor	Somewhat favor	Somewhat oppose	Strongly oppose
5/9-19/22	44	25	15	16
7/5-12/22	43	22	15	19
9/7-14/22	47	23	14	15

The public also strongly favors the Court’s 2020 ruling that a federal statute protects LGBT workers from employment discrimination, with 87% in favor of that decision and 12% opposed. The trend on this question, first asked earlier this year, is shown in Table 11.

Table 11: In 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that a federal civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Poll dates	Strongly favor	Somewhat favor	Somewhat oppose	Strongly oppose
5/9-19/22	58	25	10	6
7/5-12/22	55	29	10	6
9/7-14/22	58	29	9	3

Perceptions of the trend in Court decisions with respect to protecting the rights of various groups is shown in Table 12, comparing September 2022 with September 2021.

Table 12: Over the past 15 years or so, would you say the Supreme Court has generally expanded or reduced the rights protected for each of these groups or has it not changed much either way?

(a) Sept. 2022

Group	Expanded rights	Reduced rights	Has not changed much either way
Those seeking an abortion	8	79	12
Voting rights of racial or ethnic minorities	28	28	44
Religious people and organizations	39	20	40
Contributors to political campaigns	41	11	47
Gun owners	45	22	33
LGBT people	60	21	19

(b) Sept. 2021

Group	Expanded rights	Reduced rights	Has not changed much either way
Those seeking an abortion	23	45	32
Gun owners	27	27	45
Religious people and organizations	33	21	45
Voting rights of racial or ethnic minorities	38	23	39
Contributors to political campaigns	39	15	46
LGBT people	77	8	15

Perceptions of the ideology of the Court

The perceived ideology of the Court has moved in the conservative direction since 2019, with 64% saying the Court is very conservative or conservative in September 2022, compared to 38% in September 2019. The percentage seeing the Court as moderate has decreased from 50% in 2019 to 27% in September 2022. The full trend is shown in Table 13.

Table 13: In general, would you describe each of the following as very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal or very liberal? . . . The Supreme Court

Poll dates	Very conservative	Somewhat conservative	Moderate	Somewhat liberal	Very liberal
9/3-13/19	5	33	50	9	3
9/8-15/20	5	30	54	9	2
7/16-26/21	13	37	42	6	1
9/7-16/21	16	35	40	7	2
11/1-10/21	15	35	39	8	1
1/10-21/22	17	38	35	8	2
3/14-24/22	15	37	36	10	2
5/9-19/22	23	33	34	8	2
7/5-12/22	34	33	21	7	3
9/7-14/22	29	35	27	5	3

In addition to measuring perceived current ideology of the Court, respondents were also asked how they thought the Court has changed over the past 15 years. The perception of change matches the shift in perceived ideology, with a larger percentage saying the Court has shifted in a conservative direction. These results and trend are shown in Table 14. Since March, the percentage seeing a conservative shift over the past 15 years has increased.

Table 14: Over the past 15 years or so, would you say the Supreme Court has generally become . . .?

Poll dates	Much more conservative	Somewhat more conservative	Hasn’t changed much	Somewhat more liberal	Much more liberal
3/14-24/22	19	31	30	17	3
5/9-19/22	23	29	27	16	4
7/5-12/22	33	32	21	9	4
9/7-14/22	32	31	21	12	4

Views of the justices

The justices are generally not well known among the public, with a majority saying they don’t know enough to give a favorable or unfavorable opinion about most justices. The results for each justice are shown in Table 15.

Table 15: Some justices of the Supreme Court are better known than others. For each of these names, have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?

Justice	Favorable	Unfavorable	Unable to rate
Samuel Alito	19	19	62
Amy Coney Barrett	21	29	49
Neil Gorsuch	18	17	65
Ketanji Brown Jackson	27	14	59
Elena Kagan	19	10	71
Brett Kavanaugh	24	36	40
John Roberts	27	16	57
Sonia Sotomayor	36	16	48
Clarence Thomas	27	36	37

At the time of her nomination and confirmation in the first half of 2022, Justice Jackson was more visible to the public and was perceived quite favorably, as shown in Table 16. The shift in opinion about her reflects the surge in news coverage for a nominee and the decline of coverage once a justice takes a seat on the Court.

Table 16: Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of the following people or haven’t you heard enough yet to have an opinion? Supreme Court nominee/Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough
3/14-24/22	44	18	38
5/9-19/22	39	23	38
9/7-14/22	27	14	59

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The survey was conducted Sept. 7-14, 2022, interviewing 1,448 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points. Interviews were conducted using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a national probability sample with interviews conducted online. The detailed methodology statement, survey instrument, topline results, and crosstabs for this release are available at law.marquette.edu/poll/category/results-and-data/. Some items from this survey (concerning policy preferences and political topics) are held for a separate release tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022).

Wording of questions about recent Supreme Court decisions: These items do not attempt to exactly frame the particular issues in specific cases but rather address the topic in more general terms. (Prior to the decisions, these were asked as possible future decisions, with identical descriptions.)

Do you favor or oppose the following recent Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion?

• Overturned Roe versus Wade, thus striking down the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states.
• Ruled that the 2nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” protects the right to carry a gun outside the home.

Opinion of same-sex marriage decision:

• In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

Opinion of decision that anti-discrimination laws protect LGBT people:

• In 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that a federal civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. How much do you favor or oppose this decision?

The wording of questions about cases before the Court in the October 2022 Term include:

Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion?

• Rule that colleges cannot use race as one of several factors in deciding which applicants to admit.

Decide that a business owner’s religious beliefs or free speech rights can justify refusing some services to gay people.

MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll survey of Wisconsin voters finds close races for governor and for the U.S. Senate.

Among likely voters, in his race for reelection, Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, is supported by 49%, while his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, is the choice of 48%. In August, immediately after the primary election, Johnson trailed Barnes by 7 percentage points, 52% to 45%, among likely voters. All vote results include undecided voters who lean to a candidate.

In the governor’s race, 47% of likely voters support Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, while 44% favor Republican Tim Michels. The independent candidate, Joan Beglinger, is chosen by 5%, with 3% who don’t know. Beglinger ended her campaign on Sept. 6 but will remain on the November ballot. In the Marquette Law School Poll’s August survey, Evers received 48%, Michels 44%, and Beglinger 4% among likely voters.

Table 1 shows the vote preference for governor, among likely voters in August and September and among registered voters since June. Beglinger was not included in the June survey. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages; the precise wording of the questions can be found in the online link noted above.)

Table 1: Vote for Wisconsin governor

(a) Likely voters

Poll dates	Evers	Michels	Beglinger	Other	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	47	44	5	0	3	0
8/10-15/22	48	44	4	0	2	1

(b) Registered voters

Poll dates	Evers	Michels	Beglinger	Other	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	44	43	8	1	4	0
8/10-15/22	45	43	7	0	3	2
6/14-20/22	48	41	NA	2	8	2

Table 2 shows the trend in support for the Senate candidates, among likely voters in August and September and among registered voters since June.

Table 2: Vote for U.S. Senate

(a) Likely voters

Poll dates	Barnes	Johnson	Neither	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	48	49	1	1	0
8/10-15/22	52	45	0	1	1

(b) Registered voters

Poll dates	Barnes	Johnson	Neither	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	47	48	3	3	0
8/10-15/22	51	44	1	3	1
6/14-20/22	46	44	1	7	2

The survey was conducted Sept. 6-11, 2022, interviewing 801 Wisconsin registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points. The margin of error among likely voters is +/- 4.9 percentage points.

Partisan support for the candidates in the race for governor is shown in Table 3 among likely voters. Both Democratic and Republican voters are strongly unified behind their respective party’s candidates, with 95% of Democrats supporting Evers and 92% of Republicans supporting Michels. Forty-five percent of independents back Evers, while 39% prefer Michels. The independent candidate, Beglinger, receives 11% from independent voters, 2% from Republicans, and 2% from Democrats.

Table 3: Vote for governor among likely voters, by party identification

(a) September

Party ID	Evers	Michels	Beglinger	Other	Don’t know	Refused
Republican	3	92	2	0	3	1
Independent	45	39	11	0	5	0
Democrat	95	4	2	0	0	0

(b) August

Party ID	Evers	Michels	Beglinger	Other	Don’t know	Refused
Republican	5	92	2	0	1	0
Independent	49	38	7	0	4	2
Democrat	94	2	3	0	0	1

Partisan support for the U.S. Senate candidates is shown in Table 4, among likely voters. As in the governor’s race, partisans are well-aligned with their party’s candidates, with 96% of Democrats supporting Barnes and 97% of Republicans supporting Johnson. Forty-eight percent of independents back Johnson, while 46% prefer Barnes.

Table 4: Vote for U.S. Senate among likely voters, by party identification

(a) September

Party ID	Barnes	Johnson	Neither	Don’t know	Refused
Republican	2	97	1	0	0
Independent	46	48	2	3	0
Democrat	96	4	0	0	0

(b) August

Party ID	Barnes	Johnson	Neither	Don’t know	Refused
Republican	6	94	0	0	0
Independent	55	40	0	3	3
Democrat	99	0	0	0	0

Voters were asked about the chances they will vote in November—were they “absolutely certain to vote,” “very likely to vote,” were the “chances 50-50,” or “don’t you think you will vote.” Among Republicans, 77% said they are “absolutely certain” to vote in November’s elections, as did 80% of Democrats and 71% of independents. Certainty of voting by party is shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Likelihood of voting, by party identification

(a) September

Party ID	Absolutely certain	Very likely	50-50	Will not vote
Republican	77	16	3	3
Independent	71	13	12	3
Democrat	80	12	7	0

(b) August

Party ID	Absolutely certain	Very likely	50-50	Will not vote
Republican	83	11	4	2
Independent	66	16	14	3
Democrat	82	8	5	5

The effect of different levels of turnout on vote for governor is shown in Table 6 and for Senate in Table 7. The first row shows preference among all registered voters, with the second row showing the results for an electorate composed of those either “absolutely certain” to vote or “very likely” to vote, while the third row shows the results only among likely voters (i.e., those who say they are “absolutely certain” to vote).

Table 6: Vote for governor, by certainty of voting

How likely to vote	Evers	Michels	Beglinger	Other	Don’t know
Among all registered voters	44	43	8	1	4
Those “absolutely certain” or “very likely” to vote	45	44	6	0	4
Only those “absolutely certain” to vote	47	44	5	0	3

Table 7: Vote for U.S. Senate, by certainty of voting

How likely to vote	Barnes	Johnson	Neither	Don’t know
All registered voters	47	48	3	3
Those “absolutely certain” or “very likely” to vote	47	49	1	2
Only those “absolutely certain” to vote	48	49	1	1

Perceived candidate traits

Table 8 shows the favorable and unfavorable ratings of the candidates since June, along with respondents who say they haven’t heard enough or don’t know. The non-incumbents have become substantially better known following their primary victories on Aug. 9, although they remain much less well-known than the incumbents. More than 90% of respondents lack an opinion of the independent candidate for governor, Joan Beglinger, who has ended her campaign but whose name will remain on the November ballot.

Table 8: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of [name below] or haven’t you heard enough about them yet? (Among registered voters.)

(a) Evers

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	45	45	7	3	0
8/10-15/22	46	41	6	6	0
6/14-20/22	44	42	11	2	0

(b) Michels

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	34	39	19	8	1
8/10-15/22	33	33	24	10	0
6/14-20/22	22	22	51	5	0

(c) Beglinger

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	3	6	63	28	0

(d) Barnes

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	33	32	25	9	1
8/10-15/22	37	22	30	11	0
6/14-20/22	21	16	57	6	0

(e) Johnson

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	39	47	11	3	1
8/10-15/22	38	47	9	6	0
6/14-20/22	37	46	14	2	0

Table 9 shows the perceptions of which candidates better understand the problems of ordinary people in Wisconsin.

Table 9: Who do you think better understands the problems faced by ordinary people in Wisconsin, …? (Among registered voters.)

(a) … Tony Evers or Tim Michels?

Poll dates	Tony Evers	Tim Michels	Both	Neither	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	47	41	0	4	7	0

(b) … Mandela Barnes or Ron Johnson?

Poll dates	Mandela Barnes	Ron Johnson	Both	Neither	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	44	40	1	6	9	0

Table 10 shows the perception that candidates “share my values.” The relative lack of familiarity with the non-incumbent candidates, Michels and Barnes, is evident in the higher percentages that say they “don’t know” about them than that say the same about two incumbents, Evers and Johnson.

Table 10: For each of the following candidates, would you say they are someone who shares your values, or don’t they share your values? (Among registered voters.)

Candidate	Shares values	Doesn’t share values	Don’t know
Evers	47	48	5
Michels	41	47	11
Barnes	44	41	15
Johnson	42	51	7

Perceptions of incumbents’ performance

Table 11 shows the perceived effectiveness of Evers as governor and Johnson as a senator, among registered voters.

Table 11: How effective is [Tony Evers as governor of Wisconsin]/[Ron Johnson as a US Senator]? (Among registered voters.)

(a) Tony Evers

Poll dates	Very effective	Somewhat effective	Not very effective	Not at all effective	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	18	35	20	23	3	0

(b) Ron Johnson

Poll dates	Very effective	Somewhat effective	Not very effective	Not at all effective	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	20	30	12	30	7	0

Table 12 shows the views among registered voters of how Evers and Johnson responded to the coronavirus pandemic.

Table 12: Do you approve or disapprove of the way [Tony Evers]/[Ron Johnson] responded to the coronavirus pandemic? (Among registered voters.)

(a) Tony Evers

Poll dates	Strongly approve	Somewhat approve	Somewhat disapprove	Strongly disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	27	23	13	29	8	0

(b) Ron Johnson

Poll dates	Strongly approve	Somewhat approve	Somewhat disapprove	Strongly disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	17	17	9	37	18	1

Table 13 shows approval and disapproval among registered voters of how Evers responded to the protests and violence in Kenosha in August 2020.

Table 13: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tony Evers responded to the protests and violence in Kenosha in August 2020? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Strongly approve	Somewhat approve	Somewhat disapprove	Strongly disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	16	22	10	37	15	0

Evers job approval

Table 14 shows approval among registered voters, since February 2022, of how Evers has handled his job as governor. There has been a steady decline in net approval during this period. The new survey is only the second time more respondents have disapproved than approved of Evers’ handling of his job since taking office.

Table 14: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Tony Evers is handling his job as Governor of Wisconsin? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Net approval	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	-3	44	47	8	0
8/10-15/22	2	47	45	8	1
6/14-20/22	3	48	45	6	1
4/19-24/22	6	49	43	7	1
2/22-27/22	9	50	41	8	1

Important issues

In each Marquette Law School Poll survey since August 2021, respondents have been asked how concerned they are with a variety of issues. Table 15 shows the concern with 10 issues in the current survey, sorted from highest to lowest percentage saying they are “very concerned.”

Table 15: How concerned are you about each of the following? Are you very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not at all concerned with …, (Among registered voters.)

Issue	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned
Inflation	70	24	5	2
Crime	61	27	10	2
Accurate vote count	56	21	11	12
Public schools	56	33	7	2
Gun violence	55	26	11	6
Abortion policy	53	24	11	8
Taxes	51	32	10	6
Climate change	44	29	14	13
Illegal immigration	38	31	18	11
Coronavirus	22	29	23	25

Inflation ranks as the top issue concern. After declining as a concern from June to August, the percentage saying they are very concerned about inflation rose slightly in September.

Table 16: Concern about inflation, Aug. 2021-Sept. 2022 (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned
9/6-11/22	70	24	5	2
8/10-15/22	67	27	4	0
6/14-20/22	75	20	4	1
4/19-24/22	69	23	6	1
2/22-27/22	68	28	3	1
10/26-31/21	64	28	6	1
8/3-8/21	49	35	11	3

Partisans differ substantially in their concern over particular issues, as shown in Table 17. Panel (a) in the table is sorted by concern among Republicans, panel (b) is sorted by concern among Democrats, and panel (c) is sorted by concern among independents. The entries are the percentage of each partisan group who say they are “very concerned” about the issue.

Table 17: Issue concerns by party identification, percent “very concerned” (Among registered voters.)

(a) Sorted by concern among Republicans

Issue	Republican	Independent	Democrat
Inflation	92	69	41
Accurate vote count	76	56	40
Taxes	74	48	26
Crime	71	61	47
Illegal immigration	69	32	19
Public schools	53	60	53
Gun violence	39	52	85
Abortion policy	34	54	77
Climate change	17	39	71
Coronavirus	9	23	33

(b) Sorted by concern among Democrats

Issue	Republican	Independent	Democrat
Gun violence	39	52	85
Abortion policy	34	54	77
Climate change	17	39	71
Public schools	53	60	53
Crime	71	61	47
Inflation	92	69	41
Accurate vote count	76	56	40
Coronavirus	9	23	33
Taxes	74	48	26
Illegal immigration	69	32	19

(c) Sorted by concern among Independents

Issue	Republican	Independent	Democrat
Inflation	92	69	41
Crime	71	61	47
Public schools	53	60	53
Accurate vote count	76	56	40
Abortion policy	34	54	77
Gun violence	39	52	85
Taxes	74	48	26
Climate change	17	39	71
Illegal immigration	69	32	19
Coronavirus	9	23	33

Abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year to overturn Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling which had meant that abortion was legal nationwide, is opposed by a majority of Wisconsin registered voters, including majorities of independents and Democrats. It is favored by a majority of Republicans in the state, as shown in Table 18.

Table 18: Do you favor or oppose the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade, thus striking down the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states? (Total and by party identification among registered voters.)

(a) September

Party ID	Favor	Oppose	Haven’t heard of decision	Don’t Know	Refused
Total	30	63	0	5	2
Republican	59	29	0	8	4
Independent	28	66	0	5	1
Democrat	3	95	0	2	0

(b) August

Party ID	Favor	Oppose	Haven’t heard of decision	Don’t Know	Refused
Total	33	60	1	4	2
Republican	62	28	0	8	2
Independent	31	62	2	2	3
Democrat	5	92	0	2	1

The respondents overwhelmingly support allowing legal abortions in the case of rape or incest, with support of 70% or more in each partisan group, as shown in Table 19.

Table 19: Do you think Wisconsin should or should not allow a woman to obtain a legal abortion if she became pregnant as the result of rape or incest? (Total and by party identification among registered voters.)

(a) September

Party ID	Should allow	Should not allow	Don’t Know	Refused
Total	83	10	5	2
Republican	70	20	8	3
Independent	83	9	6	2
Democrat	96	2	2	0

(b) August

Party ID	Should allow	Should not allow	Don’t Know	Refused
Total	88	8	4	1
Republican	79	16	4	2
Independent	87	6	5	2
Democrat	97	1	1	0

Other issues

The decision by President Biden to forgive certain student loans is approved by 46%, with 50% who disapprove. Table 20 shows the total and partisan views of this issue.

Table 20: Do you favor or oppose the decision to forgive and cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt? (Among registered voters.)

Party ID	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
Total	46	50	3	1
Republican	11	85	3	0
Independent	46	50	4	0
Democrat	85	13	2	0

Approval of student loan forgiveness by education and age is shown in Table 21. Younger voters are more approving than older ones, and college graduates are slightly more approving than non-graduates of the same age.

Table 21: Do you favor or oppose the decision to forgive and cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt? (By education and age, among registered voters.)

Education	Age	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
Non-college grad	18-29	74	24	3	0
Non-college grad	30-44	49	47	4	0
Non-college grad	45-59	38	55	7	0
Non-college grad	60+	34	63	2	2
College grad	18-29	76	24	0	0
College grad	30-44	51	46	4	0
College grad	45-59	42	54	3	0
College grad	60+	45	51	4	0

While 61% say they are very concerned with crime, a large majority, 76%, say they feel safe going about their daily activities, while 23% say they worry about their safety. On this item there are only slight partisan differences, as shown in Table 22.

Table 22: Do you feel safe from crime when going about your daily activities or are you worried about your safety? (Total and by party identification among registered voters.)

Party ID	Feel safe	Worried	Don’t know
Total	76	23	1
Republican	78	21	1
Independent	75	24	1
Democrat	76	23	1

In contrast to worries about personal safety, Republicans express considerably greater concern about crime as an issue, as shown in Table 23.

Table 23: How concerned are you about each of the following… Crime? (Total and by party identification among registered voters.)

Party ID	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	Don’t know
Total	61	27	10	2	0
Republican	71	23	5	1	0
Independent	61	25	11	3	1
Democrat	47	35	15	3	0

Worry about personal safety is greater in the City of Milwaukee than in other areas of the state, as shown in Table 24, which combines data from October 2021, April 2022, and September 2022 in order to have larger sample sizes supporting regional comparisons.

Table 24: Do you feel safe from crime when going about your daily activities or are you worried about your safety? (By region among registered voters, Oct. 2021, April 2022, and Sept. 2022.)

Region	Feel safe	Worried	Don’t know
City of Milwaukee	52	48	0
Rest of Milwaukee media market	74	24	2
Madison media market	82	17	1
Green Bay media market	87	12	1
Rest of north and west of state	85	15	0

While those in the Milwaukee area outside of the city are much less worried about personal safety than are residents of the city, they express equally high levels of concern about crime as do those in the city. Those in other regions of the state express lower levels of concern. Table 25 combines the August and September polls to increase sample size in each region.

Table 25: How concerned are you about each of the following… Crime? (By region among registered voters, Aug. and Sept. 2022.)

Region	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	Don’t know
City of Milwaukee	74	19	7	0	0
Rest of Milwaukee media market	71	24	5	0	0
Madison media market	53	34	11	1	1
Green Bay media market	48	30	15	6	2
Rest of north and west of state	53	32	11	2	1

Opinion concerning the closure of schools and businesses at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 has shifted over time, as the initial very high support for closures has declined. In these new results, a majority, 56%, say the closures were an appropriate response, while 41% say they were an overreaction that did more harm than good. The trend since March 2020 is shown in Table 26.

Table 26: Do you think the decision in 2020 to close schools and businesses and to restrict the size of public gatherings was an appropriate response to the coronavirus outbreak or was it an overreaction that did more harm than good? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Appropriate response	Overreaction	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	56	41	3	0
2/22-27/22	61	35	3	0
8/3-8/21	62	35	2	1
10/21-25/20	68	26	5	0
6/14-18/20	72	25	3	0
5/3-7/20	69	26	4	1
3/24-29/20	86	10	3	0

Forty-one percent of registered voters say it is more important to reduce property taxes, while 51% say it is more important to increase spending on public schools. When asked in August, 43% said reduce property taxes and 52% said increase spending on public schools. Table 27 shows the partisan divide on support for property tax cuts versus spending on schools in the September survey.

 

Table 27: Which is more important to you: reduce property taxes or increase spending on public schools? (Total and by party identification among registered voters.)

Party ID	Reducing property taxes	Increasing spending on public schools	Don’t know	Refused
Total	41	51	5	3
Republican	69	22	5	4
Independent	46	42	8	4
Democrat	12	85	3	0

A majority, 62%, say they are very satisfied or satisfied with the public schools in their community, while 31% are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Table 28 shows the total and partisan breakdowns in the September survey.

Table 28: How satisfied are you with the job the public schools are doing in your community? (Among registered voters.)

Party ID	Very satisfied	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Very dissatisfied	Don’t know
Total	19	43	20	11	7
Republican	13	38	22	17	10
Independent	17	45	19	12	6
Democrat	28	47	17	2	6

Direction of state, Biden approval, Baldwin favorability

A majority of respondents, 53%, think the state is off on the wrong track, while 40% say it is headed in the right direction. The trend since February is shown in Table 29.

Table 29: Thinking just about the state of Wisconsin, do you feel things in Wisconsin are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten off on the wrong track? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Right direction	Wrong track	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	40	53	7	1
8/10-15/22	35	56	9	0
6/14-20/22	37	56	6	0
4/19-24/22	36	56	7	0
2/22-27/22	39	53	8	1

In September, 40% approve of the way President Joe Biden is handling his job, while 55% disapprove, unchanged from August. The trend in Biden approval in 2022 is shown in Table 30.

Table 30: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	40	55	4	0
8/10-15/22	40	55	5	1
6/14-20/22	40	57	3	0
4/19-24/22	43	53	3	1
2/22-27/22	43	52	3	2

Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seen favorably by 37% and unfavorably by 40%. The trend in views of Baldwin is shown in Table 31.

Table 31: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Tammy Baldwin or haven’t you heard enough about her yet? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	37	40	19	4	1
8/10-15/22	39	37	18	6	0
6/14-20/22	39	37	20	3	1
4/19-24/22	43	36	17	3	0
2/22-27/22	42	36	18	3	1

2020 election confidence and Trump favorability

Opinion on the accuracy of the results of the 2020 presidential election continues to sharply divide the public, with 65% saying they are very or somewhat confident and 34% saying they are not too confident or not at all confident in the election result. These views overall and by party identification are shown in Table 32.

 

Table 32: How confident are you that, here in Wisconsin, the votes for president were accurately cast and counted in the 2020 election? (Total and by party identification among registered voters.)

Party ID	Very confident	Somewhat confident	Not too confident	Not at all confident	Don’t know	Refused
Total	46	19	16	18	1	0
Republican	13	22	29	34	1	1
Independent	41	23	17	18	1	0
Democrat	86	10	1	3	1	0

Table 33 shows the trend since 2021 in 2020 election confidence.

Table 33: How confident are you that, here in Wisconsin, the votes for president were accurately cast and counted in the 2020 election? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Very confident	Somewhat confident	Not too confident	Not at all confident	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	46	19	16	18	1	0
8/10-15/22	48	18	15	17	2	1
6/14-20/22	51	16	11	21	0	0
4/19-24/22	48	16	12	23	1	0
2/22-27/22	48	19	11	19	2	0
10/26-31/21	47	18	12	19	3	0
8/3-8/21	48	19	15	16	1	0

Table 34 shows opinion of former President Donald Trump overall and by party identification in the September survey. A substantial majority of Republicans hold a favorable view of Trump, while majorities of independents and Democrats have an unfavorable opinion of him.

Table 34: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump, or haven’t you heard enough about him yet? (Total and by party identification, among registered voters.)

Party ID	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
Total	38	58	1	3	0
Republican	79	16	0	4	0
Independent	32	63	1	3	1
Democrat	4	94	0	1	0

Views of Trump have barely changed since 2021, as shown in Table 35.

Table 35: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump, or haven’t you heard enough about him yet? (Among registered voters.)

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know	Refused
9/6-11/22	38	58	1	3	0
8/10-15/22	38	57	1	4	0
6/14-20/22	39	56	3	2	0
4/19-24/22	36	58	2	3	1
2/22-27/22	36	57	2	3	2
10/26-31/21	38	57	2	3	0
8/3-8/21	38	55	3	4	1

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The Marquette Law School Poll is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history. This poll interviewed 801 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone, Sept. 6-11, 2022. The margin of error is +/-4.3 percentage points for the full sample. The margin of error for likely voters is +/-4.9 percentage points

Some issue items were asked of half the sample. Those on Form A were asked of 399 and have a margin of error of +/- 6 percentage points. Form B items were asked of 402 and have a margin of error of +/- 6.1 percentage points.

Items asked of half-samples include on Form A the issues of public schools, inflation, abortion policy, taxes, gun violence, and crime. Form B items concern the coronavirus pandemic, illegal immigration, climate change, and ensuring an accurate vote count. Form B also included items on property taxes and school spending, and the closing of schools and businesses at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The partisan makeup of the sample, including those who lean to a party, is 45% Republican, 44% Democratic, and 10% independent. The partisan makeup of the sample, excluding those who lean to a party, is 30% Republican, 29% Democratic, and 41% independent.

Since January 2020, the long-term partisan balance, including those who lean to a party, in the Marquette Law School Poll has been 45% Republican and 44% Democratic, with 9% independent. Partisanship excluding those who lean has been 30% Republican and 28% Democratic, with 41% independent.

The entire questionnaire, methodology statement, full results, and breakdowns by demographic groups are available at law.marquette.edu/poll/results-and-data.