Wisconsin Presidential Primary Nears

When the presidential primary and caucus schedule was first announced, many believed one of the GOP candidates would have a clear lead for the Republican nomination, and Wisconsinites’ votes would be irrelevant. However, Wisconsin voters may now have the chance to make a difference in the delegate totals when they vote in the presidential primary on April 5.

According to the most recent statewide polling in Wisconsin, Donald Trump leads the race for the Republican nomination with 30 percent, and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are close behind with 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively. John Kasich trails with eight percent. However, this poll was conducted before it was announced Ben Carson and Jeb Bush were suspending their campaigns, leaving 11 percent of Republican primary voters unaccounted for. Donald Trump has been Wisconsin’s preferred Republican choice since September, except for one short blip when Ben Carson was leading the Republican field with 22 percent support in November.

On the Democratic ticket, Bernie Sanders currently leads Hillary Clinton by just one point for the Democratic primary in Wisconsin (44-43). Polling in January had Clinton beating Sanders (45-43) and in November, Clinton had a nine-point lead on Sanders.

Should the Wisconsin primary become more significant, the biggest effect could be evident in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, which is also on the ballot on April 5. High voter turnout could play into this race, where Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley only had a two-point lead on Joanne Kloppenburg during the February Supreme Court primary election.