Public awareness of current and rumored gubernatorial candidates is low for almost all officials according to a St. Norbert College public opinion poll released Tuesday.
The telephone poll asked 400 adult Wisconsinites for their opinion of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, former congressman Mark Neumann, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Appleton businessman Mark Todd and Brownsville businessman Tim Michels.
Neumann, Walker and Todd are the declared Republican candidates for governor, while Thompson and Michels are rumored to be considering a run.
Lawton ended her bid for governor Monday, leaving the Democrats with no declared candidate, however the poll was conducted before that announcement. Falk and Barrett are favored as rumored candidates.
The poll, conducted twice a year in the fall and spring, showed some unexpected statistics about anonymity, said Wendy Scattergood, poll administrator and assistant professor of political science at the St. Norbert College Survey Center.
“Barrett’s results were surprising since they weren’t higher because of the [Wisconsin State Fair] incident,” Scattergood said, referencing the assault Barrett sustained while trying to intervene in a domestic dispute at the fair this summer.
The results show 48 percent of respondents were not familiar with Barrett, which is similar for Walker and Neumann whose results were 51 and 50, respectively.
Only Thompson was widely well-known by respondents, having just 5 percent of those polled saying they did not know who he was.
In regard to Lawton and Falk’s anonymities, which were 43 percent and 40 percent, Scattergood said she did anticipate higher awareness because of their higher profile status – Lawton holds a statewide office and Falk ran for governor in 2002 and for attorney general in 2006.
Neumann spokesperson Bruce Pfaff said the numbers show both Walker and Neumann are equally known among citizens, so the Republican nomination race is tight.
“The job of the Neumann campaign is over the next year to get people familiar with Neumann again,” Pfaff said.
Pfaff added many public events are in the works to achieve this goal, including more online town halls.
Walker spokesperson Jill Bader said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald that Walker’s campaign continues to gain momentum across the state and he is listening to voters’ comments on what their next governor should be.
