A Dairyland Sentinel Perspective by George Mitchell
Francesca Hong’s predicted victory in Tuesday’s primary election will put school choice on the November ballot in a way that has not occurred in earlier gubernatorial elections.
I believe this will work to the distinct advantage of Tom Tiffany.
Reliable surveys show clear support for Wisconsin’s choice programs. According to Marquette Poll Director Charles Franklin, “people want to protect their community schools that they think pretty well of, but they are attracted to the idea of giving (families) a choice of where to go, no matter where they live and no matter what their income is.”
Respected national pollster Wes Anderson has tracked Wisconsin voter sentiment on education issues for more than two decades. When it comes to school choice, he finds support across the political spectrum in all of the state’s media markets.
For example, Anderson finds that likely voters split 68-23 for making all Wisconsin families eligible (current programs are limited to low- and moderate-income families). The partisan breakout of those “strongly agreeing” with universal choice is shown below.
| % Strongly Agree | % Strongly Disagree | |
| Democrat | 47 | 41 |
| Republican | 87 | 6 |
| Independent | 69 | 22 |
Significantly, those results come from a poll in which President Trump was underwater by 11 points on a favorable/unfavorable rating.
Hong’s vulnerability is illustrated by responses to the following question:
Would you be more likely or less likely to support a candidate for State Legislature if you knew they opposed allowing all families to take part in Wisconsin’s School Choice Program?
Here is the partisan breakout of likely voter responses:
| % More Likely | % Less Likely | No Opinion | |
| Democrat | 36 | 40 | 16 |
| Republican | 13 | 69 | 14 |
| Independent | 25 | 58 | 10 |
The legacy media, and social media influencers, have highlighted Hong’s stark call for ending school choice programs. This puts the issue in play, something that has not been a major factor in previous gubernatorial campaigns.
If Hong is at the top of the ticket Democratic legislative candidates will be asked if they agree or disagree with her on school choice. This issue, if effectively exploited, could be a factor in helping Republicans maintain legislative majorities.
New research on the effectiveness of Wisconsin’s choice programs will help candidates who support strengthening them. As first reported at Dairyland Sentinel, the peer-reviewed scholarship shows choice students progressing faster than their public school counterparts. As indicated in this chart, from WILL.
