A special post-election edition of the Wisconsin Economic Scorecard finds that state residents remain optimistic about the overall direction of the state, with 64 percent saying the state is “headed in the right direction.”
Over the past three quarters, opinion among Wisconsin residents regarding the overall direction of the state has become increasingly positive. While residents were split on the question in March, by October a clear majority — 61 percent — said the state was headed “in the right direction.”
The change after the election comes largely from an improved outlook among Democrats. Before the election, 33 percent of Democrats said the state was headed in the right direction. That climbed to 53 percent after an election that saw wins by Barack Obama and Tammy Baldwin.
Looking at state government, about 46 percent of Wisconsin residents feel that Republican control of the state Legislature will yield benefits for the state economy, while 38 percent feel it will make the economy worse. Political independents are more likely to see Republican control of the state Legislature as beneficial.
And despite the recent struggles of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a small majority of Wisconsin residents (52 percent) remain confident the replacement for the old Department of Commerce will succeed in bringing jobs to the state.
The poll of 426 Wisconsin residents was conducted from November 7‐9 by the UWM Center for Urban Initiatives and Research, in cooperation with Milwaukee public radio station WUWM and WisBusiness.com . The poll has a margin of error of 4.75 percentage points.
See more from the poll: http://www.wisbusiness.com/1008/121115ECONscorecard.pdf
