Race Tightening Between Joe Biden, Donald Trump In Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE, WI — A new Marquette Law School Poll in Wisconsin finds the race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden narrowing slightly as the Nov. 3 election draws nearer. Officials said there was "slight change in voting preferences or attitudes" in the wake of shootings and protests in Kenosha in late August.

In early September, Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden was the top the choice of 47 percent of likely voters and Republican President Donald Trump was supported by 43 percent. According to the poll, seven percent say they would vote for none of these candidates, didn’t know how they would vote or declined to say.

In August, before the events in Kenosha, Biden was supported by 49 percent and Trump by 44 percent, with 6 percent not choosing either. In June among likely voters, Biden had 50 percent and Trump 44 percent, with 6 percent not choosing either.

Other findings from the new poll include:

• Approval of Black Lives Matter protests barely changed following the Kenosha events.
• Approval of President Trump’s response to protests rose following his visit to Kenosha among Republicans but shifted only slightly among other voters.

The poll was conducted from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3, 2020, officials said. The sample included 802 registered voters in Wisconsin interviewed by cell phone or landline, with a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. There are 688 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points.

Wisconsin As Battleground

Wisconsin's status as a battleground state in the 2020 race for president is well-documented.

Trump defeated Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton by 0.77 percent, with 47.22 percent going to him over 46.45 percent going to Clinton. Wisconsin's margin of victory was the slimmest of all states in 2016.

Over the last two weeks, Trump, Biden, Vice President Mike Pence and Biden's running mate Kamala Harris all visited Wisconsin in-person in an unprecedented flood of political candidates into the Badger State in this COVID-19-dominated election cycle.

Biden visited Kenosha and Wauwatosa last week Tuesday. In a roundtable with Black leaders in Kenosha in a Lutheran church, Biden opened his speech with the following: "The words of a president matter. No matter whether they're good, bad or indifferent, they matter," Biden said early on inside the private discussion inside the church. "No matter how competent or incompetent the president is, they can send a nation to war, they can make peace, they can make markets rise and fall, and they can do things that I've observed and make a difference by what they say."

Biden was preceded by Trump in Kenosha by two days. Trump visited an emergency operations center in the city, and toured protest-related damage in the city.

Trump lauded the work of local police departments and touted his own involvement in supporting increased National Guard troop levels following civil unrest after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

"We are going to get Kenosha back in shape," Trump said, pledging $1 million of funding to law enforcement in the city and nearly $4 million to help small businesses rebuild.

Biden spoke privately with the Blake family following the shooting during his stop.

Blake Shot, Wounded

Blake, 29, was shot several times by Kenosha police in late August during the course of a domestic dispute on the city's north side.

A witness to the shooting recorded the incident on video. In that video, police are seen following Blake around his SUV, grabbing him by the shirt, and opening fire on him several times as he enters his car while his children were apparently seated inside.

Blake survived the shooting, yet remains partially paralyzed and in a hospital bed in Milwaukee. The video of Blake's shooting has gone viral, and Kenosha saw widespread protests for about two weeks after the shooting.

Public officials of all kinds have weighed in on the shooting, some calling for immediate punishment for the officer who pulled the trigger, others for police and social reforms, and others who are calling for a playing-out of the police investigation into the shooting.