The new Rasmussen poll of Wisconsin shows bad news for Gov. Scott Walker, with a majority of likely voters wanting to kick him out of office in the state’s recently triggered recall election.
The poll asked: “A special election will be held to see if voters want to recall Governor Scott Walker and remove him from office. If the special election were held today, would you vote to recall Governor Walker and remove him from office or would you vote against the recall and let him continue to serve as governor?”
The answer: Recall Walker 52%, Vote against the recall 47%. The survey of likely voters was conducted March 27, and has a ±4.5% margin of error. In the previous poll from late February, the recall trailed by a margin of 43%-54%.
To be clear, though, recalls in Wisconsin do not feature any direct up-or-down vote on the incumbent, but instead effectively take the form of a special election with the incumbent and a challenger fighting it out to serve the rest of the term.
There are currently four Democrats running for the primary on May 8: Milwaukee Mayor and 2010 Democratic nominee Tom Barrett, former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, and Secretary of State Doug La Follette.
In a recent survey from Public Policy Polling, Walker had a narrow edge of 47%-45% over Barrett, and 49%-45% over Falk.
As such, this Rasmussen poll does not provide an exact picture of Walker’s chances in the recall — but it sure can’t be good news, either.
Also in the new poll, Walker’s approval rating is 47%, to 53% disapproval. In the very polarized environment of Wisconsin, there is not much middle ground, either, with 42% strongly approving, and 46% strongly disapproving.
In the February poll, Walker’s approval rating was 52%-46%, including 40% strongly approving and 40% strongly disapproving.
The general election will be on June 5, after state election administrators officially certified the recall petitions this past Friday.
