The University of Wisconsin Elections Research Center plans on conducting multiple polls in three Midwestern battleground states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — over the course of the 2020 presidential campaign, according to UW News.
According to UW News, the 2016 presidential election saw all three states go to Republicans, despite their support for Democratic presidential candidates since at least 1992.
In Wisconsin, according to the 270toWin website, Democrats won all seven elections from 1988 through 2012 before the streak stopped in 2016.
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UW ERC Director Barry Burden emphasized the role swing state voters will play in influencing the upcoming presidential election.
“Voters in Midwest battleground states are likely to be key players in deciding who wins the 2020 presidential election, so the surveys will illuminate how these voters are thinking about the race,” Burden said, according to UW News.
According to UW News, ERC will conduct three rounds of polling over the course of the 2020 campaign. The first poll is scheduled for immediately after the New Hampshire primary. The second one will be conducted in July and August before the national party conventions and the final poll will take place after the conventions, during the general election campaign.
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ERC will also partner with the Wisconsin State Journal for all polling done in Wisconsin, according to UW News.
WSJ editor John Smalley said he anticipates the partnership will continue beyond the 2020 election, according to UW News.
“The State Journal is one of the most widely read sources for objective political news in the state, and as such we’re proud to partner with our state’s flagship university to enhance polling in Wisconsin,” Smalley said, according to UW News.
YouGov, an international research data and analytics group and a leading marketing and polling firm, will be in charge of conducting surveys, under the direction of the ERC. According to UW News, participants will be selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel for online interviews. Survey samples will also be selected and weighted to reflect the adult population in each state based on gender, age, race and education.
