Marquette poll shows tight race for governor, Trump’s lowest approval rating in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – A new Marquette University Law School Poll released Wednesday, Sept. 30, gives us a look at where the candidates running for governor stand in Wisconsin, along with the issues driving voters to the polls.

The most recent poll, conducted Sept. 16-23, 2026, shows in the race for governor, Democrat David Crowley is supported by 49% of likely voters and Republican Tom Tiffany is supported by 46%, with 5% undecided.

“We have a close race here," said MU Poll Director Charles Franklin, while opening the poll release event on Wednesday at Eckstein Hall on Marquette's campus.

Among all registered voters, Crowley is the choice of 46%, and Tiffany is supported by 45%, with 9% undecided. In August, Crowley had 49% and Tiffany 44% among likely voters, and the race was tied with 44% each among registered voters.

In this poll, 31% have a favorable view of Crowley, and 44% have an unfavorable view, giving him a net favorability of -13 points, compared to +4 points in August, when 33% saw him favorably and 29% unfavorably. 

"That movement is heavily concentrated among Republicans, who earlier did have an opinion and now have a negative one," Franklin said. "But there has been some movement among independents, into a more negative view. Democrats have hardly changed.”

Tiffany is viewed favorably by 39% and unfavorably by 45%, giving him a net favorability of -6%.

On Sept. 12, Tiffany’s airplane made an emergency crash landing into Lake Wausau, with minor injuries to Tiffany and the pilot. Among all registered voters, 35% say they heard a lot about this, while 45% heard a little and 20% heard nothing at all. Those who heard a lot about the plane accident are more favorable to Tiffany than are all registered voters, with 52% favorable and 46% unfavorable. 

“There probably was a bit of a positive effect of seeing him in a very human situation, one that none of us ever want to go through," Franklin said.

Approval of the way President Donald Trump is handling his job declined to 38% in September, while disapproval rose to 60%. This is the lowest approval rating the president as received in this poll across both first and second terms.

Inflation and the cost of living remains the most important issue for 45% of registered voters, up from 43% in August. Illegal immigration and border security is the next most important at 11%, followed by health insurance at 9%, jobs and the economy at 9%, and property taxes at 7%. Data centers and abortion policy are each most important to 5%, with affordability of housing, public schools, and crime each at 4% or less.

“I think a really important takeaway, the national forces are very bad for republicans, because of president’s job approval, because of the views of the economy and inflation and gas prices, all of those things are really bad right now," Franklin said. 

The poll asked questions to 843 Wisconsin registered voters, with a margin of error of +/-4.3 percentage points. For likely voters, the sample size is 692 with a margin of error of +/-4.8 percentage points.

You can read more on the poll here. 

The next MU Law School Poll will be released Oct. 28