Poll: Republican Derrick Van Orden Leads Democrat Deb Baldus McGrath on Initial Ballot

Republican Derrick Van Orden shows a strong lead against his Democrat opponent, Deb Baldus McGrath, on her recent internal poll.

McGrath’s internal poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found that Van Orden led his Democrat opponent by nine points in Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District.

Forty-seven percent said they would vote for Van Orden, while only 38 percent would vote for McGrath.

After the respondents were told about the candidates’ different views on abortion, Van Orden and McGrath were tied 43 percent to 43 percent. The Republican is pro-life, while McGrath says the choice is “between her and her doctor, not by the government” — which did not acknowledge how extreme her views are on abortion.

Public Policy acknowledged that Van Orden has much higher name recognition, partly due to running in the same district in 2020 and 2022.

He ran against returning Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) in 2020 and initially in this cycle, as well, until he decided to retire after being hammered in the news for accepting thousands of dollars in rent from a seedy massage parlor that advertises on illicit sites, which Breitbart News chronicled.

Ultimately, it boosted Van Orden’s name recognition. Only 36 percent were unsure about their opinion of him, while 68 percent were unsure of their opinion of the Democrat.

Additionally, Van Orden’s favorability is above water with a net rating of two points (33 percent to 31 percent). In comparison, McGrath’s favorability is underwater with a net negative eight points (12 percent to 20 percent).

McGrath’s internal poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling with 602 people from Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District between June 1 and 2. There was a margin of error, plus or minus four percentage points. Public Policy Polling’s memo said 55 percent of the surveys were done by text message, and 45 percent were done by telephone.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.