Francesca Hong expands lead in final Marquette poll before election

Francesca Hong expanded her lead in the Democratic primary for governor, with Mandela Barnes and David Crowley both trailing at least 20 points behind her, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released just under two weeks before the Aug. 11 election.

Among Democratic primary voters surveyed, 38% said they will vote for Hong, followed by 16% for Barnes, 7% for Crowley, 2% for Joel Brennan and 2% for Kelda Roys. Another 34% still hadn't decided who to vote for.

In Marquette's previous poll released July 22, Hong stood at 27%, Barnes at 18%, Brennan at 5% and Roys at 2% when the second choices of Sara Rodriguez supporters were allocated to other candidates following her exit from the race. Another 48% were undecided in that poll, and David Crowley was not included as an option.

Poll director Charles Franklin decided to do another poll because Marquette's mid-July survey was conducted before Rodriguez dropped out and Crowley got back in the race with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, upending the race. Marquette didn't originally plan to do another poll before the Aug. 11 primary.

Marquette conducted the new poll between July 22 and 27, so it did not capture any changes in voter opinion after the first and only televised debate among the Democratic candidates July 28. The poll surveyed 407 registered Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 6.6 percentage points.

Marquette attempted to re-interview all Democratic primary voters who participated in their earlier poll, conducted from July 8 to 16, to evaluate how opinions changed. The poll succeeded 59% of the time in reaching them again; some of the sample was brand new.

More: How the Marquette poll really works, and why it's so well-regarded

There are two important dates: The Aug. 11 primary and the Nov. 3 general election. Both are Tuesdays. Other offices, like Congress and state Legislature, are also on the ballot. You can see a full preview of your ballot at myvote.wi.gov.

Aug. 11 is when voters will select who advances to the general election. Republican Tom Tiffany faces a primary challenger but is almost certain to advance; there are five Democrats competing for the nomination. Early, in-person absentee voting is underway through Aug. 9; polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Nov. 3 is when voters will select from the Democrat and Republican who advanced from the primary. After this election, Wisconsin will know its next governor.

More: Early voting now underway in the Wisconsin election, how to find sites

Hope Karnopp can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Francesca Hong expands lead in final Marquette poll before election