The Republican Party of Monroe County conducted an Exploratory Presidential Preference Poll at their Annual Caucus on February 26th. Participants were asked to rate 18 potential presidential candidates as “Favorable”, “No Opinion”, or “Unfavorable” and then were asked the question “If the Wisconsin Presidential Primary were today which candidate would get your vote?” The preference poll was patterned after one from the National Republican Senate Committee and included the three announced candidates: former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Although there were over three dozen Republican grass roots activists attending the caucus, only 31 ballots were returned at the end of the evening.

The three most favorable candidates were Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (90.3%), former President Donald Trump (71.0%), and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (48.4%). The least favorable candidate was former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (none) followed by New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (both at 6.5%). Two other candidates had a favorable rating of less than 10%: former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (both at 9.7%).

The three most favorable candidates, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, and Kristi Noem, have something in common. They have all run something! Some presidential historians may remember the comment that President Eisenhower made late in the 1960 campaign that he didn’t know how the Republican nominee Vice President Nixon planned to run the country since he had never run anything.

The three most unfavorable candidates were Chris Christie (61.3%), former Vice President Mike Pence (48.4%), and Larry Hogan (29.0%). No other candidates had over a 20% unfavorable rating and Ron DeSantis had a zero unfavorable rating.

The two candidates that stand out are Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie. Ron DeSantis had the highest favorable rating (90.3%) and a zero unfavorable rating. At the other extreme is Chris Christie with a very low favorable rating (9.7%) and the highest unfavorable rating (61.3%).

If the Wisconsin Republican Presidential Primary were held the day of the caucus, former President Trump would have won with 45.2% with Florida Governor DeSantis placing second with 22.6%. However, 25.8% of the ballots were considered “invalid” due to many being left blank and a few other reasons. Two other candidates, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, each got one vote or 3.2%. Trump’s win over DeSantis is interesting considering DeSantis’ favorable rating was almost 20% higher!

Other agenda items at the annual caucus included the minutes from the 2022 caucus, treasurer’s report, election of officers, and comments from the chairman. Guest speakers included Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Shimming, State Senator Pat Testin, State Representative Nancy Van derMeer, Sheriff Wes Revels, and District Attorney Kevin Croninger. Much of the discussion centered on events in the recent past and in the future to include the upcoming April elections, especially the Justice Daniel Kelly candidacy for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The Republican Party of Monroe County was recognized as the “Outstanding Republican County” for 2020 at the 2021 Republican State Convention. Monroe County also has a reputation for the large number of campaign signs seen throughout the county in election season.

It will be interesting to note as the campaign season unfolds over the next year until the Wisconsin Presidential Primary how these early exploratory results compare to what actually happens.