Wisconsinites approve of Evers, Trump handling of pandemic, MU Law Poll

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Most Wisconsin voters, 86 percent of them, said closing schools and businesses was the right call, according to the Marquette Law Poll.

Most voters said they approve of how Gov. Evers is handling the virus.

“Tony Evers has an exceptionally high approval rating," poll director Charles Franklin said. "Seventy-six percent approve of the way he’s handling the outbreak here in Wisconsin.”

A smaller 51 percent approve of President Donald Trump’s actions on the pandemic, vs. 46 percent who disapprove.

“That’s a little bit higher than his overall approval rating, which we’ve seen in national data as well,” Franklin said

Fifty-one percent of Wisconsinites strongly approve of direct cash payments from the government. COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on the economy. Nine percent of respondents were laid off or lost a job. Twenty-two percent had a family member who lost a job, 22 percent had work hours reduced and less than half, 48 percent, do not have a family member with reduced hours.

“Surely it’s growing by the day at this point," Franklin said of the results. "Remember we were in the field last Tuesday to Sunday, so before the end of the month.”

There was a drastic shift from the last poll in the presidential primary. Joe Biden went from trailing Bernie Sanders by 14 points in February, to leading him by a commanding 28 points in March.

But the poll has no way to account for the current election landscape. Franklin said polling in this environment left them in "uncharted waters."

“With the shift in the way people vote, we’re not at this stage at all clear how much the additional barriers that that erects for participation will matter,” Franklin said.

Joe Biden lead the president 48-45 in a hypothetical general election match up. Trump lead Sanders 47-45.