Battleground Wisconsin Poll: 51% Say Trump Shouldn’t Be Impeached and Removed

The majority of registered voters in battleground Wisconsin, 51 percent, believe Congress should neither impeach nor remove U.S. President Donald Trump from office, a Marquette Law School poll released on Wednesday shows.

Wisconsin is considered the most vital state for the 2020 presidential race.

According to the poll, self-described as “the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history,” a majority of Independents (55 percent) joined Republican voters (92 percent) and those who lean towards the GOP (88 percent) in opposing the impeachment and removal of Trump.

“When asked if Trump should be impeached and removed from office, 44 percent say that Trump should be removed, 51 percent say he should not be impeached and removed, and 4 percent say they don’t know,” the Marquette Law School revealed.

Unsurprisingly, most voters who favored the impeachment and removal of Trump are Democrats (88 percent) or lean towards the party (78 percent). Nevertheless, about a quarter (24 percent) of voters who identify as Democrats or tilt towards the party are against impeaching and removing Trump.

The poll also found that the number of registered voters who are against Congress holding impeachment hearings on Trump exceeds those who are in favor, noting, “[Forty-six] percent think that there is enough cause now for Congress to hold hearings on the impeachment of President Donald Trump, while 49 percent say there is not enough cause, and 5 percent say they do not know.”

The number of registered voters who stand against holding impeachment hearings has decreased from 59 percent in January to 49 percent now.

“In April 2019, 29 percent said there was sufficient reason for impeachment hearings, and 65 percent said there was not,” the Marquette Law School pointed out, adding, “In January 2019, 33 percent supported and 59 percent opposed hearings.”

Again, a majority of independent voters (53 percent) agreed with voters who identify as Republicans (86 percent) or lean towards that party (77 percent) that there is not enough cause for Congress to be conducting impeachment hearings on Trump.

So far, House Democrats pursuing the impeachment inquiry have conducted all depositions behind closed doors, prompting vigorous criticism from Republicans.

The Marquette Law School poll lags behind national polls that found a majority of Americans support the impeachment and removal of Trump. Some national surveys on the Democrats’ secret impeachment proceedings, however, have been discredited.

The law school poll “is a reminder that the national poll results we’re seeing are a bit different than in the attitudes in top battleground states for 2020,” NBC News acknowledged.

On Wednesday, the Marquette Law School Poll noted that its recent survey “is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history.”

“This poll interviewed 799 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone, Oct. 13-17, 2019,” it added. “The margin of error is +/-4.2 percentage points for the full sample.”

The poll did find that among those Wisconsin voters who say they have read the transcript of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, more than half believe there is enough reason to hold impeachment hearings.

“Among those who have read the transcript, 51 percent think there is enough reason to hold impeachment hearings, compared to 42 percent among those who have not read the transcript” the Marquette Law School pointed out. “Forty-six percent of those who have read the transcript think there is not enough reason to hold hearings, compared to 50 percent among those who have not read the transcript.”

Trump won Wisconsin in 2016. Echoing the results of a poll published in August, the new poll places Trump’s overall job approval in Wisconsin at 46 percent.

Slightly more than half (51 percent) of Wisconsin registered voters disapprove of Trump’s performance, while two percent say they don’t know.

Nearly half (48 percent) of Independent voters joined Republicans (91 percent) and those who lean towards that party (76 percent) in giving Trump a favorable job approval rating.