by Benjamin Yount
Wisconsin’s uninstructed, or uncommitted, voters are out with a new poll that says they could keep President Joe Biden from winning the state in November.
The Americans for Justice in Palestine-Action group commissioned the poll from YouGov. It says 1-in-5 Democrats and Independents in Wisconsin say they are less likely to vote for the president because of how he’s handled the war in Gaza.
“Results in Wisconsin are similar to results in other states polled: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota, but are likely more impactful in Wisconsin because of its tiny margin of victory in 2016 and 2020 elections – less than a percentage point in both,” the group said in its statement.
Overall, the poll shows there are some voters in Wisconsin who are willing to abandon the president over the war between Israel and Hamas.
“The net percentage of Wisconsin voters polled who said they are less likely to vote Biden in November due to his handling of the war in Gaza was 4 percentage points – amounting to roughly double the number of votes needed to secure a win in Wisconsin,” AJP-Action added. “Alongside the ‘uninstructed’ vote count from April’s primary election, the report suggests Biden could win or lose the state on this issue.”
In April, around 47,000 voters picked uninstructed on their primary ballot, far more than the 22,000 votes Biden won by four years ago.
“We’re not surprised by these results but we are sobered by them: we need this administration to take voters seriously on this issue if he wants to win in November. If over a third of possible Biden voters say ceasefire, full entry of humanitarian aid, and an end to the siege on Gaza is the minimum combination of policy changes needed to sway their votes, President Biden is in trouble in a state with as narrow margins as ours,” Campaign Manager for Listen to Wisconsin’s Uninstructed Campaign Reema Ahmad said.
Biden won Wisconsin’s Democratic Primary with nearly 89% of the vote, or just over a half–million votes in all.
Still, the uninstructed number was large enough to be worrisome.
“We ran a campaign to show the Biden Administration that Wisconsinites are anti-war and want serious action to end Israel’s assault on Gaza. This poll echoes the nearly 50,000 ‘uninstructed’ votes from our primary,” Ahmad added.
AJP-Action says its poll also shows:
● 35.4% of these Wisconsin voters believe the U.S. should put “much more” pressure on the Israeli government. Another 27.7% say “somewhat more” pressure, for a total of 63%.
● 55% of Wisconsin voters polled support the student encampments to protest university funds invested in Israel’s war.
The poll included a representative sample of 500 registered voters in Wisconsin, and 2,500 total across the five states polled. Respondents identified as Democrats or Independents and the weighted margin of error is +/- 5.17 percentage points.
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Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.
