UpNorthNews and Main Street Action are co-sponsoring a comprehensive poll of Wisconsin voters that will be released ahead of Tuesday’s televised debate between the five Democratic candidates seeking their party’s nomination for governor in the Aug. 11 primary election.
The poll is being conducted by State Navigate, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit organization with a focus on collecting and analyzing data about state government. In 2025, its inaugural year, the firm was named the most accurate pollster of the year.
Results will be released first in a special edition newsletter sent to subscribers of our weekly Wisconsin politics newsletter Supper Club Statehouse, at 11 a.m. CST Tuesday. (Click here to subscribe.)
“Since January, our members have hosted candidate forums across Wisconsin, from a 400-person event in Milwaukee to one-on-one conversations at Brix Cider in Mount Horeb,” said Shawn Phetteplace, National Campaign Director for Main Street Action. “But most voters can’t make it to a forum on a weeknight. That’s why we wanted to commission this poll, it’s a way to hear from the voters who weren’t in the room, both where they stand on the candidates and what’s actually driving their vote. This November’s races will decide who has a seat at the table on health care, child care, and the costs small businesses and working families are up against, and we want the full range of voters represented in that conversation.”
The poll comes six days after the latest Marquette University Law School poll, which showed State Rep. Francesca Hong leading the field, but with nearly 50% of respondents saying they are still undecided. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was the only Democratic candidate seen as winning a head-to-head match with the Republican candidate, US Rep. Tom Tiffany, though the other candidates were within striking distance and the margin of error.
The poll from UpNorthNews will include other questions about respondents’ most important issues and their second choices if their favorite candidate wouldn’t be available. This, of course, is a very relevant scenario given recent events that saw one leading candidate, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, leave the race while Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley got back into campaign mode with the encouragement and endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, who is stepping away after two terms.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported that it had received 95,805 absentee ballots by mail as of last Friday. In-person early absentee voting begins Tuesday at local election clerks’ offices. To learn your polling place and its voting hours, go to the commission’s website: MyVote.WI.gov.
