7 Out of 10 Wisconsinites Support Mask Requirements in New Marquette Poll

Survey shows Biden up 6 on Trump. Comfort on sending kids back to school depends on if you have kids at home.

The latest public-opinion survey by the Marquette Law School continues to show overwhelming support for safeguards to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Gov. Tony Evers is still getting highly positive marks, and President Donald Trump — consistently underwater in terms of public support — trails presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by six points in a poll with a four-point margin of error.

The Marquette survey of 801 registered voters (675 describe themselves as likely voters) was a couple weeks later than first planned due to logistical problems conducting a large phone bank operation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked if they agree or disagree with a policy of requiring face masks in public places, 69 percent gave their support while 29 percent opposed. The partisan breakdown was striking, with self-described Democrats supporting such a rule by a 93 to 5 percent margin, while Republican respondents gave the measure 43 percent support versus 54 percent who opposed it. For self-labeled Independent, the mask rule was given a lopsided measure of support, 71 to 29 percent.

Evers gets a 61 percent approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Wisconsin (versus 35 percent disapproval), a three-point increase from the June survey. President Trump, on the other hand, gets only a 40 percent approval rating on the pandemic while 58 percent say they disapprove of the job he’s doing. His approval number has fallen four points since June.

On the question of whether respondents are comfortable with children going back to in-person classes while the outbreak rages on, 48 percent said they were not comfortable versus 45 percent who say they are. However, when the question is asked only of people who have school-age children at home, 53 percent of those people are comfortable sending their kids back to school while 45 percent are not.

Biden leads Trump by a 48-42 margin for November’s presidential election among poll respondents. In June, Biden led 49-41. Trump’s overall approval rating of 44 percent is the lowest it has been in Marquette Law School polling since January, 2019; but Trump’s approval rating for his entire term in office has stayed within a tight range of 41 to 48 percent, never above 50 percent approval.

Respondents are evenly split on voting methods being planned for November with 47 percent saying they will either mail in an absentee ballot or fill out an absentee ballot in person prior to Election Day at their local clerk’s office while 46 percent are planning to vote in person on Election Day. There was a sharp partisan divide on the matter, however, with many more Democrats than Republicans saying they plan to cast absentee ballots.

President Trump’s strongest issue with voters continues to be the economy where, even in a pandemic recession, he squeaks just over 50 percent approval versus 46 percent who disapprove of his handling of the economy.

Among many other issues asked in the survey, support has fallen for those who are continuing to protest police violence in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. Compared to the June poll when support had a 61-36 majority, the measure is now evenly split with 48 percent supporting the protests and 48 percent saying they do not.