MILWAUKEE – A new Marquette Law School poll finds former Vice President Joe Biden the choice of 48% of likely voters in Wisconsin, President Donald Trump supported by 43% and Libertarian Jo Jorgensen receiving 2%. Another 7% say they will vote for none of these candidates, don’t know how they will vote or declined to say. These results include those who are undecided but say they lean to a candidate. This is the final Marquette Law School poll before the November 3 election.

The results are little changed from the Marquette Law School poll conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, in which Biden was the choice of 47%, Trump the choice of 42% and Jorgensen the choice of 4%. Those results also included those who were undecided but leaned to a candidate.

Among Republicans, 7% say they are voting for Biden, while 86% are voting for Trump, 3% for Jorgensen and 4% undecided or declining to say. Among Democrats, 3% are voting for Trump and 92% are voting for Biden, with none for Jorgensen and 4% undecided or declining to say. Independents say they are voting for Biden over Trump by a 36-28% margin, with 12% for Jorgensen and 24% undecided or declining to say.

The poll was conducted Oct. 21-25, 2020. The sample included 806 registered voters in Wisconsin, who were interviewed by cell phone or landline, with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points. There are 749 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points.

Table 1 shows the trend in presidential preference among likely voters from September through October. None of the poll-to-poll changes in support is outside the margin of error.

Table 1: Vote preference among likely voters, September-October 2020

Poll Dates	Net Dem-Rep	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Jo Jorgensen	None/other (VOL)	Don’t know	Refused
8/30-9/3/20	4	48	44	4	0	2	2
9/30-10/4/20	5	47	42	4	1	1	4
10/21-25/20	5	48	43	2	1	0	6

Sensitivity of results to turnout and undecided voters

The vote margins may be sensitive to assumptions about turnout. The model results for likely voters are based on those respondents who say they are certain they will vote or have already done so. Table 2 shows vote both if turnout is lower than the likely-voter sample implies and, by contrast, if turnout is higher using all registered voters as the sample. The results range from a margin for Biden of 3% in a lower turnout than expected, a margin for Biden of 4% in a high turnout in which all registered voters voted, and the previously mentioned 5% Biden margin in our standard likely-voter model.

Table 2: Vote by level of turnout

Response	All registered	Likely-voter model	Lower-turnout model
Joe Biden	47	48	48
Donald Trump	43	43	45
Jo Jorgensen	2	2	2
None/other (VOL)	1	1	0
Don’t know	1	0	0
Refused	6	6	5

In the likely-voter sample, 7% say they are undecided or declined to say how they would vote. To assess the probable impact of their votes, an “allocated” vote assigns these respondents to Biden if they have a favorable view of Biden and not a favorable view of Trump and assigns them to Trump if they are favorable to Trump and not favorable to Biden. If they are favorable to both or not favorable to both, they remain unallocated and remain undecided. Table 3 compares the vote among likely voters without allocation against the allocated vote. While the allocation reduced the undecided, refused and other categories, it does not change the margin, which remains 5 points in favor of Biden. The allocation does raise Biden to 50% and Trump to 45%, while Jorgensen remains at 2 percent.

Table 3: Vote for likely voters and allocated vote, respectively

Response	Likely voters	Likely voters, including allocated vote
Joe Biden	48	50
Donald Trump	43	45
Jo Jorgensen	2	2
None/other (VOL)	1	0
Don’t know	0	0
Refused	6	2

Expectations for the election

Among likely voters, 91% say their minds are made up while 6% say they might change their minds. Among Biden supporters, 95% say their minds are made up. Among Trump supporters, 93% say their minds are made up.

Sixteen percent of likely voters expect Trump to win the election by a lot, 23 percent think Trump will win by a little, 29% think Biden will win by a little and 17% think Biden will win by a lot.

Eighty percent of Trump voters expect him to win and 11% expect Biden to win. Among Biden voters, 80% expect him to win and 6% expect Trump to win.

Twenty-seven percent of likely voters say they are very confident that the votes will be accurately cast and counted in the election, with 43% somewhat confident, 21% not too confident and 7% not at all confident.

Among Republicans, 61% say they are very or somewhat confident the votes will be accurately counted and 37% are not too confident or not at all confident. Eighty-two percent of Democrats are very or somewhat confident the vote will be accurately counted, while 18% are not too or not at all confident.

Choice of ballot type in November

In the poll, 41% of registered voters say they have already voted either by absentee or in-person early voting. According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission data, 37.5% of registered voters had voted as of the end of the poll’s field period on Oct. 25.

Among those who say they have already voted, 64% report they voted for Biden, 25% voted for Trump, and 2% voted for Jorgensen. An additional 9% declined to say for whom they voted. Among those likely voters who have not yet cast a ballot, 35% report they will vote for Biden, 56% for Trump and 3% for Jorgensen. An additional 6% said someone else or declined to say how they will vote.

Views of Trump, Biden, Pence and Harris

Cares about you

Among all registered voters, 43% say “cares about people like you” describes Trump and 54% say this does not describe him. Fifty-six percent say this describes Biden and 40% say this does not describe him. Tables 4 and 5 shows trends on this question since June.

Table 4: Does ‘Cares about people like you’ describe Trump, June-October 2020

Poll date	Cares	Does not care	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	39	57	3
8/30-9/3/20	41	56	3
10/21-25/20	43	54	2

Table 5: Does ‘Cares about people like you’ describe Biden, June-October 2020

Poll date	Cares	Does not care	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	46	42	10
8/30-9/3/20	48	45	5
10/21-25/20	56	40	3

Favorability

Among registered voters, 44% have a favorable view overall of Trump and 54% have an unfavorable view of him. Forty-nine percent have a favorable view of Biden and 46% have an unfavorable view of him.

The full trends for favorability of Trump and Biden are shown in Tables 6 and 7.

Table 6: Favorable or unfavorable view of Trump, May-Oct. 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
5/3-7/20	-7	44	51	2	2
6/14-18/20	-12	42	54	2	2
8/4-9/20	-13	42	55	2	1
8/30-9/3/20	-12	42	54	2	1
9/30-10/4/20	-11	42	53	2	2
10/21-25/20	-10	44	54	1	1

Table 7: Favorable or unfavorable view of Biden, May-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
5/3-7/20	-4	42	46	7	4
6/14-18/20	-2	44	46	7	2
8/4-9/20	-5	43	48	7	2
8/30-9/3/20	-2	45	47	6	1
9/30-10/4/20	3	48	45	5	2
10/21-25/20	3	49	46	3	2

The vice-presidential candidates are less familiar to respondents, with 10% unable to give a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Vice President Mike Pence and 13% unable to give an opinion of Sen. Kamala Harris.

Tables 8 and 9 show favorable and unfavorable ratings for Pence and Harris this fall.

Table 8: Favorable or unfavorable view of Pence, September-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
8/30-9/3/20	-7	39	46	12	3
9/30-10/4/20	-1	41	42	12	5
10/21-25/20	-1	44	45	7	3

Table 9: Favorable or unfavorable view of Harris, September-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
8/30-9/3/20	1	38	37	20	4
9/30-10/4/20	-3	37	40	19	4
10/21-25/20	4	45	41	11	2

Trump job approval

As of late October, 47% approve and 52% disapprove of Trump’s job performance. That is a 3-point increase in approval and no change in disapproval since early October. The trend since March is shown in Table 10.

Table 10: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of his job as president, March-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	48	49	3
5/3-7/20	47	49	3
6/14-18/20	45	51	3
8/4-9/20	44	54	2
8/30-9/3/20	44	54	2
9/30-10/4/20	44	52	2
10/21-25/20	47	52	1

Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic

After an initial approval rating in March of over 50% for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s approval on this front has fallen to 40 percent in late October, a slight change since early October, with approval down 1 point and disapproval up 2 points. The full trend is shown in Table 11.

Table 11: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, March-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	51	46	2
5/3-7/20	44	51	3
6/14-18/20	44	52	3
8/4-9/20	40	58	2
8/30-9/3/20	41	56	2
9/30-10/4/20	41	56	3
10/21-25/20	40	58	2

Approval of Trump’s handling of protests

Table 12 shows approval since June of Trump’s handling of mass protests since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Approval is 3 points higher than in early October, with no change in disapproval.

Table 12: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of protests, June-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	30	58	11
8/4-9/20	32	58	9
8/30-9/3/20	36	54	8
9/30-10/4/20	37	54	8
10/21-25/20	40	54	6

Trump’s handling of the economy

Handling of the economy remains Trumps strongest area of approval, with 51% approval and 48% disapproval in the new poll, a 3-point increase in disapproval. The full trend since March is shown in Table 13.

Table 13: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, March-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	54	41	4
5/3-7/20	54	40	4
6/14-18/20	50	46	3
8/4-9/20	51	46	3
8/30-9/3/20	52	44	2
9/30-10/4/20	51	45	4
10/21-25/20	51	48	1

Age group variation in this poll

In this poll, the 18-29-year-old sample is more Republican and more likely to vote for Trump than has typically been the case. This appears to be noisy sampling variation. The 18-29-year-old group is only 60 respondents (unweighted) which has a large margin of error of more than +/- 15 percentage points. Because vote by age has been an important topic, Tables 14 and 15 show the vote by age for this sample and compare it to vote by age for the last three polls combined, using likely voters. Given the consistency of Biden’s margin in multiple polls this year, it is likely that the 18-29-year-old result in October is a sampling anomaly rather than a real change. Because the group is small, this anomaly has little effect on the overall vote margin. If all age groups are weighted to match their long-term partisan composition, the overall vote margin changes by only 1 percentage point, to 48% Biden and 42% for Trump.

Table 14: Vote by age, October only

Age	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Jo Jorgensen	None/other (VOL)	Don’t know	Refused
18-29	48	45	1	1	0	5
30-44	50	39	4	0	0	8
45-59	46	45	5	1	1	2
60+	48	43	0	1	0	8

Table 15: Vote by age, September-October combined

Age	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Jo Jorgensen	None/other (VOL)	Don’t know	Refused
18-29	54	34	6	0	1	4
30-44	47	41	5	1	2	4
45-59	44	47	4	1	2	3
60+	48	44	1	1	1	5

Attitudes concerning COVID

In late October, 22% say they are very worried about becoming ill from the coronavirus, a decrease from 27% in early October despite the rise of cases in the state. Nineteen percent say they are not at all worried, virtually the same as the 21% in early October.

Table 16 shows how worries have varied since March, when the percent very or somewhat worried was at the highest level seen so far, while the number of those not at all concerned has stabilized close to 20 percent for some time.

Table 16: Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of the illness, how worried are you personally about experiencing coronavirus? March-October 2020

Poll date	Very worried	Somewhat worried	Not very worried	Not worried at all	Already had COVID-19 (VOL)	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	30	40	18	11	0	0
5/3-7/20	25	35	20	19	0	0
6/14-18/20	19	36	21	24	1	1
8/4-9/20	27	36	17	19	1	0
8/30-9/3/20	21	39	19	19	1	0
9/30-10/4/20	27	34	16	21	2	0
10/21-25/20	22	35	20	19	3	1

In the new October poll, 64% say they always wear a mask when in a public place, 20% say they do so most of the time, 12% do so only now and then and 3% say they never wear a mask when in public.

Fifty-two percent say they are comfortable eating inside at a restaurant, while 47% say they are uncomfortable doing so. In May, 42% were comfortable and 57% were uncomfortable, while in June 49% were comfortable and 49% were uncomfortable.

Looking back to the closing of schools and businesses last spring, 68% say this was an appropriate response to the coronavirus epidemic, while 26% say it was an overreaction. The full trend for this question is shown in Table 17.

Table 17: Do you think the decision last spring 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? March-October 2020

Poll date	Appropriate response	Overreaction	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	86	10	3
5/3-7/20	69	26	4
6/14-18/20	72	25	3
10/21-25/20	68	26	5

Supreme Court nomination and upcoming Affordable Care Act case

On Monday, Oct. 26, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Forty-eight percent say, if they were in the Senate, they would vote to confirm Barrett, while 38% would vote against her confirmation. This is a sharply partisan issue, as shown in Table 18.

Table 18: Vote to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court by party identification, October 2020

Party ID	Support	Oppose	Don’t know
Republican	87	5	8
Independent	38	28	33
Democrat	10	75	15

On Nov. 10, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in cases that challenge the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, also known as the “ACA” or “Obamacare.” Thirty-five percent would favor the Court’s declaring the law unconstitutional, while 55% would oppose it doing so.

The partisan divide over the ACA is shown in Table 19.

Table 19: Favor or oppose the Supreme Court’s declaring the ACA unconstitutional, by party identification, October 2020

Party ID	Favor	Oppose	Don’t know
Republican	67	20	12
Independent	17	69	14
Democrat	6	89	4

Views of protests, Black Lives Matter

Approval of protests over police violence against Black Americans declined from June to early August, prior to a police officer’s shooting Jacob Blake in Kenosha, but barely moved following the Kenosha shooting and protests, as shown in Table 20.

Table 20: Approval of protests against police shootings, June-October 2020

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	61	36	2
8/4-9/20	48	48	3
8/30-9/3/20	47	48	4
9/30-10/4/20	46	49	4
10/21-25/20	50	45	4

Favorable views of the Black Lives Matter movement also declined from June to August, but has remained fairly stable since August, as shown in Table 21.

Table 21: Favorable or unfavorable view of Black Lives Matter movement, June-October 2020

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	59	27	6	5
8/4-9/20	49	37	10	5
8/30-9/3/20	49	37	8	5
9/30-10/4/20	46	40	8	5
10/21-25/20	47	39	7	5

Approval of Evers’ job performance and handling of coronavirus

In the new late-October poll, 50% approve and 43% disapprove of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ job performance. In early October, 52% approved and 42% disapproved. The trend in overall approval of Evers since March is shown in Table 22.

Table 22: Gov. Evers job approval

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
3/24-29/20	65	29	6	1
5/3-7/20	59	33	7	1
6/14-18/20	54	38	6	1
8/4-9/20	57	37	6	0
8/30-9/3/20	51	43	5	2
9/30-10/4/20	52	42	5	1
10/21-25/20	50	43	7	0

Evers’ handling of the coronavirus issue has 52% approval and 45% disapproval. This is a decline from three weeks ago, when 56% approved and 38% disapproved. The trend in approval and disapproval is shown in Table 23.

Table 23: Gov. Evers handling of coronavirus outbreak, approval

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
3/24-29/20	76	17	7	1
5/3-7/20	64	32	4	1
6/14-18/20	58	37	4	1
8/4-9/20	61	35	4	0
8/30-9/3/20	57	38	4	1
9/30-10/4/20	56	38	5	1
10/21-25/20	52	45	3	0

Approval of how the Wisconsin legislature is handling its job

In October, 36% say they approve of the way the Wisconsin legislature is handling its job, while 50% say they disapprove. This is the first time since January 2019, when the legislature’s job approval was first asked, that more disapprove than approve. The full trend for this question is shown in Table 24.

Table 24: Wisconsin legislature’s job approval

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know	Refused
1/16-20/19	52	31	16	1
4/3-7/19	50	38	11	1
8/25-29/19	52	38	8	1
11/13-17/19	48	39	13	0
2/19-23/20	46	40	13	1
5/3-7/20	46	40	13	1
10/21-25/20	36	50	13	1

Views of the economy, past and future

Views of the direction of the economy have turned sharply down since February, with many more people saying the economy has gotten worse over the past year. However, respondents have a strongly positive outlook for the economy over the next 12 months. Tables 25 and 26 show the recent trends in these measures.

Table 25: Change in economy over past 12 months

Poll dates	Gotten better	Gotten worse	Stayed the same	Don’t know	Net
1/8-12/20	48	17	33	2	31
2/19-23/20	47	15	36	2	32
3/24-29/20	41	31	25	3	10
5/3-7/20	28	46	20	4	-18
6/14-18/20	27	50	19	4	-23
8/4-9/20	22	56	19	3	-34
8/30-9/3/20	25	51	19	3	-26
9/30-10/4/20	25	53	18	4	-28
10/21-25/20	24	54	20	2	-30

Table 26: Outlook for the economy over the next 12 months

Poll dates	Get better	Get worse	Stay the same	Don’t know	Net
1/8-12/20	33	23	37	6	10
2/19-23/20	36	21	37	7	15
3/24-29/20	44	34	13	8	10
5/3-7/20	45	31	16	7	14
6/14-18/20	50	19	24	6	31
8/4-9/20	45	23	21	11	21
8/30-9/3/20	48	18	21	13	30
9/30-10/4/20	43	18	25	14	25
10/21-25/20	45	13	22	20	33

Family financial situation

Table 27 shows the trend in family finances since January. In late October, the percentage living comfortably rose while the percentages just getting by or struggling declined.

Table 27: Family financial situation

Poll dates	Living comfortably	Just getting by	Struggling
1/8-12/20	63	28	8
2/19-23/20	62	29	8
3/24-29/20	59	30	10
5/3-7/20	61	28	9
6/14-18/20	61	31	6
8/4-9/20	63	28	8
8/30-9/3/20	60	32	8
9/30-10/4/20	60	30	9
10/21-25/20	67	26	6

Views of state officials

Tables 28-30 present the recent favorability ratings of elected officials in Wisconsin and the percentage of respondents who haven’t heard enough about them or say they don’t know.

Table 28: Evers recent favorability trend

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	45	37	14	3
2/19-23/20	43	40	12	4
3/24-29/20	54	28	11	6
5/3-7/20	50	36	7	5
6/14-18/20	54	37	7	2
8/4-9/20	52	35	9	4
8/30-9/3/20	47	41	9	2
9/30-10/4/20	47	40	9	3
10/21-25/20	47	43	8	2

Table 29: Sen. Tammy Baldwin recent favorability trend

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	44	40	13	2
2/19-23/20	43	40	13	3
3/24-29/20	40	39	16	4
5/3-7/20	45	37	14	3
6/14-18/20	40	38	19	3
8/4-9/20	43	36	17	3
8/30-9/3/20	42	35	19	3
9/30-10/4/20	41	35	20	3
10/21-25/20	44	36	15	4

Table 30: Sen. Ron Johnson recent favorability trend

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	39	29	28	3
2/19-23/20	37	34	24	5
3/24-29/20	35	32	29	4
5/3-7/20	38	34	23	5
6/14-18/20	35	32	29	3
8/4-9/20	33	35	27	4
8/30-9/3/20	32	36	28	5
9/30-10/4/20	35	31	27	7
10/21-25/20	38	36	23	3

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The Marquette Law School Poll is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history. This poll interviewed 806 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone, Oct. 21-25, 2020. The margin of error is +/-4.3 percentage points for the full sample. There are 749 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points.

The partisan makeup of the sample, including those who lean to a party, is 45% Republican, 44% Democratic and 9% independent. The partisan makeup of the sample, excluding those who lean to a party, is 30% Republican, 29% Democratic and 40% percent independent.

Since January 2017, the long-term partisan balance, including those who lean to a party, in the Marquette poll has been 45% Republican and 45% Democratic, with 9% independent. Partisanship excluding those who lean has been 30% Republican and 29% Democratic, with 40% independent.

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

MILWAUKEE – A new Marquette Law School poll of likely Wisconsin voters finds little change in preference or attitudes following the first presidential debate and after President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19. While twice as many respondents say former Vice President Joe Biden did better in the debate as say Trump did better, the shift in the vote margin since early September is a single point.

In the new poll, Biden is the choice of 46% of likely voters and Trump is supported by 41%. Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen is the choice of 4%, while 8% say they would vote for none of these candidates, don’t know how they would vote or decline to say.

In early September, Biden was supported by 47%, Trump by 43% and Jorgensen by 4%. Another 7% said they would vote for none of these candidates, didn’t know how they would vote or declined to say.

Other findings from the new poll include:

• A third of respondents think Trump has mild symptoms from COVID-19, while slightly more say they don’t yet know how ill he is.
• Most think that in-person campaign rallies should be halted, while a majority think the debates should continue.
• By a 2-to-1 margin, voters say Biden did a better job in the debate.
• More people than in September say they are very worried by the risk of getting ill from the coronavirus, and support for requiring masks in public places is slightly higher than in August when last asked.
• Over a third say they’ve stopped talking about politics with someone, and this varies by political party.

The poll was conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2020. The sample included 805 registered voters in Wisconsin, interviewed by cell phone or landline, with a margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points. There were 700 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points. Five items were added to the survey after Trump announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 and were asked Oct. 2-4 to 355 registered voters. Results for that group have a margin of error of +/- 6.4 percentage points.

Table 1 shows the trend in vote among likely voters from May through September. Jorgensen was not included prior to September. None of the poll-to-poll changes in support are outside the margin of error. There is less variation in support of presidential candidates than in either the 2012 or 2016 summer and fall Marquette Law School polls.

Table 1: Vote among likely voters, May-October 2020

Poll Dates	Net Dem-Rep	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Jo Jorgensen	None/other (VOL)	Don’t know	Refused
5/3-7/20	4	49	45	NA	3	2	1
6/14-18/20	6	50	44	NA	3	2	1
8/4-9/20	5	49	44	NA	3	2	1
8/30-9/3/20	4	47	43	4	2	3	2
9/30-10/4/20	5	46	41	4	1	3	4

Reactions to Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis

Among respondents interviewed Oct. 2-4, after Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, 33% say they think he has a mild case, 13% say it is a moderate case, 8% say it is a serious case and 3% say it is a very serious case. A substantial 37% say they don’t know how serious Trump’s illness is.

Following Trump’s diagnosis, 52% say both Trump and Biden should stop holding in-person campaign rallies, while 37% say rallies are safe and should continue.

In contrast, 67% say the vice-presidential and remaining presidential debates should be held as scheduled, while 23% say the debates should be canceled.

Asked about the vice-presidential candidates, all following the announcement of Trump’s illness, 33% say they are very confident and 23% are somewhat confident in Vice President Mike Pence’s ability to perform the duties of president, while 12% are not very confident and 21% are not at all confident.

For Sen. Kamala Harris, 25% say they are very confident and 20% are somewhat confident in her ability to perform the duties of president, while 11% are not very confident and 29% are not at all confident.

Who did best in the debate?

Among all registered voters polled, 41% say Biden did the best job in the first presidential debate on Sept. 29, while 20% say Trump did best. Fourteen percent say both did badly, while 21% say they didn’t pay much attention to the debate. Less than a half of 1% say both candidates did well.

There are substantial differences in perceived debate performance by partisanship, as shown in Table 2. Few partisans give the edge to the other party’s candidate, although more than one in five Republicans and Independents volunteer that both candidates did badly, while only 6% of Democrats agree.

Table 2: Regardless of which candidate you happen to support, who do you think did the best job in the first presidential debate, Joe Biden or Donald Trump, or didn’t you pay much attention to the debate? By party identification

Party ID	Biden	Trump	Didn’t pay much attention	Both did equally well (VOL)	Both did badly (VOL)	Don’t know
Republican	9	41	25	1	21	3
Independent	24	15	30	1	23	6
Democrat	76	1	15	0	6	2

Senate action on Supreme Court nominee

Judge Amy Coney Barrett has been nominated to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Forty-four percent think the Senate should vote on this nomination before the November elections, while 51% think the Senate should wait until after the election to decide whether to vote on the nomination. This is a sharply partisan issue, as shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Do you think the Senate should vote on the nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court before the presidential election or wait until after the election to decide whether or not to vote on the nomination? By party identification

Party ID	Vote before the election	Wait until after the election	Don’t know
Republican	81	15	3
Independent	39	41	19
Democrat	8	90	2

Attitudes concerning COVID-19

In October, 27% say they are very worried about being ill from the coronavirus, an increase from 21% in September. Twenty-one percent say they are not at all worried, virtually the same as the 19% in September.

Table 4 shows how worries have varied since March, when the percent very or somewhat worried was at the highest level seen so far. Since June, the percent who are very worried has fluctuated, seemingly in line with periods of increasing or decreasing numbers of new cases of COVID-19 in the state, while the number of those not at all worried has stabilized close to 20%.

Table 4: Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of the illness, how worried are you personally about experiencing coronavirus? March-October 2020

Poll date	Very worried	Somewhat worried	Not very worried	Not worried at all	Already had COVID-19 (VOL)	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	30	40	18	11	0	0
5/3-7/20	25	35	20	19	0	0
6/14-18/20	19	36	21	24	1	1
8/4-9/20	27	36	17	19	1	0
8/30-9/3/20	21	39	19	19	1	0
9/30-10/4/20	27	34	16	21	2	0

Half of respondents think the pandemic will continue for another year or more before things start to return to normal, while 20% say it will be under control within three months. These results are shown in Table 5.

Table 5: When do you think the coronavirus outbreak will be under control and things can get back to normal? October 2020

Response	Percent
It is under control now	5
In two or three months	15
In six months	21
In about a year	28
More than a year from now	22
Don’t know	8
Refused	0

A plurality, 47%, think the Big Ten conference and University of Wisconsin—Madison should play football this fall, while 40% think they should not play.

In October, 72% agree that masks should be required in public places, while 26% disagree with requiring masks. In August, 69% supported a mask requirement and 29% were opposed.

Support for a mask requirement exceeds 60% in all regions of the state, as shown in Table 6 for August and October polls. There has been little change in regions since August, except for the non-Fox Valley north and west of the state (“Rest of the state”), where support has increased.

Table 6: Support for requiring masks by region by poll, August and October 2020

Region	Poll dates	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know
MKE City	8/4-9/20	83	15	2
MKE City	9/30-10/4/20	87	12	1
Rest of MKE metro area	8/4-9/20	64	35	1
Rest of MKE metro area	9/30-10/4/20	67	29	2
Madison	8/4-9/20	78	20	2
Madison	9/30-10/4/20	79	20	1
GB/Appleton	8/4-9/20	73	26	1
GB/Appleton	9/30-10/4/20	74	26	0
Rest of state	8/4-9/20	60	37	4
Rest of state	9/30-10/4/20	66	30	3

While substantial majorities in all regions support a mask requirement, there are partisan differences which have persisted since August, as shown in Table 7. Republicans are divided on the issue, while a large majority of independents support requiring masks and Democrats are almost unanimous in support.

Table 7: Support for requiring masks by party identification by poll, August and October 2020

Party ID	Poll dates	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know
Republican	8/4-9/20	43	54	3
Republican	9/30-10/4/20	47	49	2
Independent	8/4-9/20	71	29	0
Independent	9/30-10/4/20	66	28	2
Democrat	8/4-9/20	93	5	2
Democrat	9/30-10/4/20	98	1	0

Views of protests, BLM and Evers’ response to events in Kenosha

Approval of protests over police violence against Black Americans declined from June to early August, prior to events in Kenosha, but barely moved following the late-August Kenosha shootings and protests, as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Approval of protests against police shootings, June-October 2020

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	61	36	2
8/4-9/20	48	48	3
8/30-9/3/20	47	48	4
9/30-10/4/20	46	49	4

Favorable views of the Black Lives Matter movement also declined from June to August but did not change further in September. They declined very slightly in October, as shown in Table 9.

Table 9: Favorable or unfavorable view of Black Lives Matter movement, June-October 2020

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	59	27	6	5
8/4-9/20	49	37	10	5
8/30-9/3/20	49	37	8	5
9/30-10/4/20	46	40	8	5

Forty percent approve of the way Gov. Tony Evers handled events in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August, while 44% disapprove of his response.

Approval of Trump’s handling of protests

Table 10 shows approval, since June, of Trump’s handling of protests since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. There is little change from September to October.

Table 10: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of protests, June-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
6/14-18/20	30	58	11
8/4-9/20	32	58	9
8/30-9/3/20	36	54	8
9/30-10/4/20	37	54	8

Views of Trump, Biden, Pence and Harris

Favorable and unfavorable views of Trump have been stable in recent months. Trump has held a 42% favorable rating since June, with 53-to-55% unfavorable.

Biden’s favorable rating has slowly increased, with October showing the first net favorable rating for him this year at 48% favorable with 45% unfavorable.

The full trends for both Trump and Biden are shown in Tables 11 and 12.

Table 11: Favorable or unfavorable view of Trump, January-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	-5	46	51	0	1
2/19-23/20	-5	45	50	3	2
3/24-29/20	-5	45	50	2	3
5/3-7/20	-7	44	51	2	2
6/14-18/20	-12	42	54	2	2
8/4-9/20	-13	42	55	2	1
8/30-9/3/20	-12	42	54	2	1
9/30-10/4/20	-11	42	53	2	2

Table 12: Favorable or unfavorable view of Biden, January-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	-5	41	46	8	4
2/19-23/20	-19	34	53	8	4
3/24-29/20	-11	39	50	7	4
5/3-7/20	-4	42	46	7	4
6/14-18/20	-2	44	46	7	2
8/4-9/20	-5	43	48	7	2
8/30-9/3/20	-2	45	47	6	1
9/30-10/4/20	3	48	45	5	2

The vice-presidential candidates are less familiar to respondents, with 17% unable to give a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Vice President Mike Pence and 23% unable to give an opinion of Sen. Kamala Harris.

Tables 13 and 14 shows favorable and unfavorable ratings for Pence and Harris this fall.

Table 13: Favorable or unfavorable view of Pence, September-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
8/30-9/3/20	-7	39	46	12	3
9/30-10/4/20	-1	41	42	12	5

Table 14: Favorable or unfavorable view of Harris, September-October 2020

Poll date	Net	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
8/30-9/3/20	1	38	37	20	4
9/30-10/4/20	-3	37	40	19	4

Trump’s job approval

Approval of how Trump is handling his job as president is little changed over the surveys since May, as shown in Table 15. As of October, 44% approve and 52% disapprove.

Table 15: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of his job as president, May-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
5/3-7/20	47	49	3
6/14-18/20	45	51	3
8/4-9/20	44	54	2
8/30-9/3/20	44	54	2
9/30-10/4/20	44	52	2

Trump’s handling of the economy

Handling of the economy remains Trump’s strongest area of approval, with 51% approval and 45% disapproval in October. The full trend since May is shown in Table 16.

Table 16: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, May-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
5/3-7/20	54	40	4
6/14-18/20	50	46	3
8/4-9/20	51	46	3
8/30-9/3/20	52	44	2
9/30-10/4/20	51	45	4

Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic

After an initial approval rating in March of over 50% for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 41% in October, unchanged from September. The full trend is shown in Table 17.

Table 17: Approve or disapprove of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, March-October 2020

Poll date	Approve	Disapprove	Don’t know
3/24-29/20	51	46	2
5/3-7/20	44	51	3
6/14-18/20	44	52	3
8/4-9/20	40	58	2
8/30-9/3/20	41	56	2
9/30-10/4/20	41	56	3

Approval of Evers’ job performance and handling of the coronavirus pandemic

After six months of elevated approval ratings, approval of Gov. Tony Evers’ handling of his job fell in September back to pre-coronavirus levels. In October, 52% approve and 42% disapprove of his job performance. In September, 51% approved and 43% disapproved. The trend in overall approval of Evers in 2020 is shown in Table 18.

Table 18: Tony Evers’ job approval, January-October 2020

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove
1/8-12/20	51	40
2/19-23/20	51	38
3/24-29/20	65	29
5/3-7/20	59	33
6/14-18/20	54	38
8/4-9/20	57	37
8/30-9/3/20	51	43
9/30-10/4/20	52	42

Evers’ handling of the coronavirus issue brings approval from 56% and disapproval from 38%. That is a one-point decline in approval from September. The trend in approval and disapproval is shown in Table 19.

Table 19: Tony Evers’ handling of coronavirus outbreak, March-October 2020

Poll dates	Approve	Disapprove
3/24-29/20	76	17
5/3-7/20	64	32
6/14-18/20	58	37
8/4-9/20	61	35
8/30-9/3/20	57	38
9/30-10/4/20	56	38

Choice of ballot type for November election

The number of voters who say they will vote absentee by mail has leveled off at about a third of the total, compared to 43% who said in May that they planned to do that. The number who say they will vote in person on Election Day continues to rise. Table 20 shows the trend since May.

Table 20: Ballot type, by poll, May-October 2020

Poll date	Election Day, in person	Early, in person	Absentee by mail	Probably/might not vote	Don’t know
5/3-7/20	39	11	43	2	4
8/4-9/20	46	12	35	3	3
8/30-9/3/20	50	14	32	2	2
9/30-10/4/20	54	10	32	1	3

Most Republicans intend to vote in person on Election Day, with fewer than one-fifth planning to choose absentee by mail. By contrast, almost half of Democrats expect to proceed absentee by mail, as shown in Table 21, more even than on Election Day.

Table 21: Ballot type by party identification, October 2020

Party ID	Election Day, in person	Early, in person	Absentee by mail	Probably/might not vote	Don’t know	Refused
Republican	69	11	18	1	2	0
Independent	59	4	22	6	6	3
Democrat	39	11	47	1	2	0

There have been changes in the preferred type of ballot since May, with a smaller percentage in each partisan category choosing absentee by mail, though large partisan differences persist, as shown in Table 22.

Table 22: Ballot type by party identification, by poll, May-October 2020

Party ID	Poll date	Election Day, in person	Early, in person	Absentee by mail	Probably/might not vote	Don’t know
Republican	5/3-7/20	59	13	25	1	2
Republican	8/4-9/20	67	12	15	3	3
Republican	8/30-9/3/20	69	11	18	1	1
Republican	9/30-10/4/20	69	11	18	1	2
Independent	5/3-7/20	30	15	43	5	6
Independent	8/4-9/20	39	15	27	13	5
Independent	8/30-9/3/20	41	18	29	8	3
Independent	9/30-10/4/20	59	4	22	6	6
Democrat	5/3-7/20	21	9	62	3	5
Democrat	8/4-9/20	27	12	55	2	3
Democrat	8/30-9/3/20	34	16	47	2	1
Democrat	9/30-10/4/20	39	11	47	1	2

May was the high-water mark, among all partisan categories, for the percentage saying they would vote absentee by mail. Republicans and independents have been relatively stable in their type of ballot since August, though independents are a bit more likely to say they will vote in person in the October survey. The percentage of Democrats choosing absentee by mail has declined since May while their intention to vote in-person on Election Day has increased.

With substantial partisan differences in choice of ballot type, there are large differences in candidate choice by ballot type, as shown in Table 23 among likely voters. The margin for Trump among Election Day voters has declined over time, while Biden’s advantage among absentee and early in-person voters has remained strong over the last two months.

Table 23: Vote by ballot type by poll wave, May-October 2020

Ballot type	Poll date	Biden	Trump	Other/DK/Ref	n
Election Day, in person	5/3-7/20	26	68	6	256
Election Day, in person	8/4-9/20	26	67	7	332
Election Day, in person	8/30-9/3/20	33	58	9	356
Election Day, in person	9/30-10/4/20	33	54	13	379
Early, in person	5/3-7/20	36	53	11	76
Early, in person	8/4-9/20	50	45	5	80
Early, in person	8/30-9/3/20	53	35	12	97
Early, in person	9/30-10/4/20	52	39	9	74
Absentee by mail	5/3-7/20	72	23	5	299
Absentee by mail	8/4-9/20	81	14	5	241
Absentee by mail	8/30-9/3/20	68	22	10	222
Absentee by mail	9/30-10/4/20	67	20	13	236

Stopped talking about politics

Just over one in three respondents, 36%, say they have stopped talking about politics with at least one person because of disagreements over the presidential election, while 63% say they have not done this. This is little changed from October 2016, when 34% said they had stopped talking and 65% said they had not.

Democrats are more likely to have stopped talking about politics than are Republicans or independents and have become more unwilling to talk in 2020 than in 2016. Table 24 shows the comparison by party for 2016 and 2020.

Table 24: Is there anyone you have stopped talking with about politics due to disagreements over the election for president? By party identification and by year, October 2016 and October 2020

Party ID	Poll dates	Yes	No	Don’t know
Republican	10/26-31/16	30	69	0
Republican	9/30-10/4/20	28	72	0
Independent	10/26-31/16	27	73	0
Independent	9/30-10/4/20	29	71	0
Democrat	10/26-31/16	39	61	0
Democrat	9/30-10/4/20	46	54	1

Views of the economy, past and future

Views of the direction of the economy have turned sharply down since February, with many more people saying the economy has gotten worse over the past year. However, respondents have a strongly positive outlook for the economy over the next 12 months. Tables 25 and 26 show the recent trends in these measures.

Table 25: Change in economy over past 12 months, January-October 2020

Poll dates	Gotten better	Gotten worse	Stayed the same	Don’t know	Net
1/8-12/20	48	17	33	2	31
2/19-23/20	47	15	36	2	32
3/24-29/20	41	31	25	3	10
5/3-7/20	28	46	20	4	-18
6/14-18/20	27	50	19	4	-23
8/4-9/20	22	56	19	3	-34
8/30-9/3/20	25	51	19	3	-26
9/30-10/4/20	25	53	18	4	-28

Table 26: Outlook for the economy over the next 12 months, January-October 2020

Poll dates	Get better	Get worse	Stay the same	Don’t know	Net
1/8-12/20	33	23	37	6	10
2/19-23/20	36	21	37	7	15
3/24-29/20	44	34	13	8	10
5/3-7/20	45	31	16	7	14
6/14-18/20	50	19	24	6	31
8/4-9/20	45	23	21	11	21
8/30-9/3/20	48	18	21	13	30
9/30-10/4/20	43	18	25	14	25

Family financial situation

Table 27 shows the trend in family finances since January. There was little change in reported financial situation from September to October.

Table 27: Family financial situation, January-September 2020

Poll dates	Living comfortably	Just getting by	Struggling
1/8-12/20	63	28	8
2/19-23/20	62	29	8
3/24-29/20	59	30	10
5/3-7/20	61	28	9
6/14-18/20	61	31	6
8/4-9/20	63	28	8
8/30-9/3/20	60	32	8
9/30-10/4/20	60	30	9

Views of state officials

Tables 28-30 present the recent favorability ratings of elected officials in Wisconsin and the percentage of respondents who haven’t heard enough or say they don’t know.

Table 28: Evers’ recent favorability trend

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	45	37	14	3
2/19-23/20	43	40	12	4
3/24-29/20	54	28	11	6
5/3-7/20	50	36	7	5
6/14-18/20	54	37	7	2
8/4-9/20	52	35	9	4
8/30-9/3/20	47	41	9	2
9/30-10/4/20	47	40	9	3

Table 29: Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s recent favorability trend

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	44	40	13	2
2/19-23/20	43	40	13	3
3/24-29/20	40	39	16	4
5/3-7/20	45	37	14	3
6/14-18/20	40	38	19	3
8/4-9/20	43	36	17	3
8/30-9/3/20	42	35	19	3
9/30-10/4/20	41	35	20	3

Table 30: Sen. Ron Johnson’s recent favorability trend

Poll dates	Favorable	Unfavorable	Haven’t heard enough	Don’t know
1/8-12/20	39	29	28	3
2/19-23/20	37	34	24	5
3/24-29/20	35	32	29	4
5/3-7/20	38	34	23	5
6/14-18/20	35	32	29	3
8/4-9/20	33	35	27	4
8/30-9/3/20	32	36	28	5
9/30-10/4/20	35	31	27	7

About the Marquette Law School Poll

The Marquette Law School Poll is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history. This poll interviewed 805 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone from Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2020. The margin of error is +/-4.2 percentage points for the full sample. There are 700 likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points. Five items were added to the survey after Trump announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 and were asked Oct. 2-4 with a sample size of 355 registered voters and a margin of error of +/- 6.4.

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

Since January 2017, the long-term partisan balance, including those who lean to a party, in the Marquette poll has been 45% Republican and 45% Democratic, with 9% independent. Partisanship excluding those who lean has been 30% Republican and 29% Democratic, with 40% independent.

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