UW political science professor Ken Goldstein conducted a survey of Wisconsin residents to gauge attitudes about the economy, state and national government and next year’s gubernatorial election.
Interestingly, Tom Barrett, if he declares, will start the primary race with a heavy advantage over Barbara Lawton. If the primary were held today, Barrett would get 38 percent of the vote versus Lawton’s 16. He obviously benefits from being recognized practically universally in the most important Democratic district in the state (Milwaukee), but I certainly would not underestimate the days of free press he got from the scuffle at the state fair.
Practically the same deal on the other side. If the Republican primary were held today, Scott Walker would get 38 percent and Mark Neumann would get 14.
Also of particular interest:
Among those aged 18-35, 8 percent get their news from newspapers and 40 percent from the Internet. Among those 65 and over, 60 percent rely on the papers and 2 percent on the Internet.
Tags: Barbara Lawton, gubernatorial race, Mark Neumann, Scott Walker, Tom Barrett, Wisconsin, Wisconsin media
October 5, 2009 at 12:49 pm |
Tom also has name recognition for his 5 years in the state assembly, four years in the state senate and his ten years in DC in the House. I agree that the state fair incident increased his name recognition, but he’s not just some mayor.
While name recognition is part of Lawton’s problem, I think her greater problem is those that do know her name know so little about her. She’s done little to build a statewide profile for herself. What do you think of when you hear “Barbara Lawton”? I think of Ed Garvey. I mean, jeez, she wasn’t able to make Scott McCallum look as stupid as he is in their debates.