Partisan Divide Over COVID-19 Vaccine In WI: Poll

By Erik Gunn, the Wisconsin Examiner

Aug. 12, 2021

Wisconsin voters are sharply divided along party lines in their attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccines, according to the newest Marquette University Law School poll.

Overall, 68% of registered voters told pollsters they have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. In that age range, 26% say they have not been vaccinated and 7% said they didn’t know or declined to answer. CDC data mirrors that result, showing as of Aug. 8 that 68% of Wisconsin residents 18 or older had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

But the survey showed a stark difference based on which political party respondents identified with. Fully 87% of Democrats told the poll surveyors that they have received a vaccine for the coronavirus, while 45% of Republicans reported that they have.

Among unvaccinated Republicans, 55% said they would “definitely not” get the vaccine, compared with 32% of unvaccinated Democrats who took that position. Meanwhile, 14% of Republicans said they “probably” or “definitely” would get the vaccine, while 37% of unvaccinated Democrats said they would.

The responses point to continued challenges for Wisconsin, as public health officials have implored state residents to get vaccinated in order curb the newest surge in the coronavirus.

Over all, a majority of Wisconsin voters responding to the poll approve of how President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers have handled the pandemic. Both Biden and Evers had the approval of 54% of those polled on their responses to the pandemic; 42% of the people in the survey disapproved of Biden’s response, and 39% disapproved of Evers.

Pollsters surveyed 807 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone from Aug. 3-8 for the poll, which has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

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