Marquette Law School Poll to release national surveys on political topics, Supreme Court, Jan. 26-27

Jan, 20, 2022

Marquette Law School Poll LogoMILWAUKEE — The Marquette University Law School Poll will release the results of two national surveys of public opinion over two days, Jan. 26-27, via video conversations between poll director Charles Franklin and Alan Borsuk, senior fellow in law and public policy.

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, the Marquette Law School Poll will release results pertaining to public opinion about the U.S. Supreme Court. This is the sixth installment in a series of nationwide surveys measuring public perception and awareness of the nation’s highest court.

Franklin will then share findings in the Marquette Law School Poll’s national query into general topics on Thursday, Jan. 27. This release looks at public opinion of President Joe Biden’s favorability, vaccinations and preferences for the 2024 presidential election.

Each video and corresponding release and data will be available at 6 a.m. EST (5 a.m. CST) on the Marquette Law School Poll website. Embargoed releases of national surveys are available to members of the media who formally register their interest in advance online and agree to stated embargo policies.

Interviews with Dr. Franklin following the poll’s releases are available on request.

U.S. Supreme Court poll – Wednesday, Jan. 26

The first Marquette Law School Poll Supreme Court survey of 2022 reflects opinion about major cases concerning abortion, such as the Texas SB-8 law that limits abortions after cardiac activity is detected at about six weeks, and Second Amendment rights to possess a gun outside the home. The poll also asks about support and opposition to federal vaccine or testing mandates by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which the Court blocked in mid-January, and a vaccine mandate for workers at medical facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding, which the Court left in place.

Approval of the Court, which declined from July to September but rose slightly in the November poll, continues to be surveyed. Awareness of, and favorability toward, each justice is also included in this month’s poll for the first time since July 2021. Respondents were asked about their perceptions of the ideological balance of the Court and if its decisions are based more on politics or more on the law. The poll also measures how aware the public is of how many justices have been appointed by presidents of each party.

National poll on political topics – Thursday, Jan. 27

This latest national poll looks at President Joe Biden’s job approval rating and how that has changed since November. At a time of rapidly rising omicron cases, the survey also asks respondents how serious they think the coronavirus pandemic is in their states now and about their own vaccination status and willingness to be vaccinated.

The survey looks at possible 2024 presidential hopefuls, with favorability ratings of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. On the Republican side, respondents were asked about their favorability toward former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The poll also compares how Trump and DeSantis fare in matchups with Biden, and if respondents would like to see Trump run in 2024.

The poll also asks about confidence in the accuracy of the election outcome in 2020 and perceptions of the ideological positions of Biden and the Democratic and Republican parties.

Begun in 2012, the Marquette Law School Poll is the most extensive statewide polling project in Wisconsin history. Since 2019, the Law School’s surveys of national public opinion about the U.S. Supreme Court have expanded the work of the poll both geographically and to a new set of topics of broad importance. Franklin has directed the poll since its inception and is a professor of law and public policy at Marquette Law School. His academic articles on partisanship, public opinion, the Supreme Court, and U.S. Senate elections have appeared in major journals and as book chapters. He is a past president of the Society for Political Methodology and an elected fellow of the society. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.