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WISPOLITICS.COM: GREEN, VAN HOLLEN WINNERS IN WISPOLITICS STRAW POLL
5/7/2005

Contact:
Jeff Mayers, WisPolitics president, 608-212-9422

SHEBOYGAN – Gubernatorial candidate Mark Green and attorney general candidate J.B. Van Hollen won a WisPolitics.com straw poll of GOP activists at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention this weekend.

Of the 317 ballots submitted for governor, U.S. Rep. Green tallied 182 votes, or 57.4 percent, to Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's 133 votes, or 42 percent. The race for attorney general wasn't as close. Of the 312 ballots submitted in that race, former U.S. Attorney Van Hollen received 261 votes, or 83.7 percent, to primary opponent Paul Bucher's 47 votes, or 15.1 percent. Bucher is the Waukesha County district attorney.

Green and Walker are preparing for a September 2006 primary; the winner would go up against first-term Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle in November of next year. Van Hollen and Bucher are vying to oppose first-term Democratic Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager next fall.

Paper balloting took place on Friday and Saturday at the state convention. Official attendance at this year's Republican convention was pegged at about 675, according to a state Republican Party official. That includes about 650 delegates and alternates and 25 registered guests. Straw poll ballots totaled 322, meaning there were votes from roughly half of those who officially attended. Only delegates, alternates and official guests were allowed to vote.

In the May 2003 WisPolitics.com straw poll at the state GOP convention, Green outpaced Walker and Assembly Speaker John Gard. Green had been the most upfront about his gubernatorial ambitions at that point, but this time Walker and Green are officially declared candidates. WisPolitics.com is an independent non-partisan political news service based in Madison. WisPolitics also operates these companion sites: WisOpinion.com, WisBusiness.com and www.IowaPolitics.com

In other ballot questions, newly declared lieutenant governor candidate Jean Hundertmark (a state representative and the only declared GOP candidate so far) was the favorite of activists, getting 204 votes of the 279 cast in that race.

In a question on who should be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the winner, getting 110 votes out of 315 ballots cast.

See below for a full list of results.

WisPolitics.com staged the straw poll to take the temperature of activists in advance of what likely will be a series of spirited Republican primaries next year.

The straw poll is not officially sanctioned by the Republican Party of Wisconsin and is run solely by WisPolitics.com. WisPolitics.com also conducts scientific polling to gauge candidate support.

To see more on the state Republican convention, go to www.wispolitics.com and look in the right-hand column for a link to the WisPolitics Convention Blog. You can also visit the blog directly at
http://blogs.wispolitics.com/2005GOP/GOPconvo.html

STRAW POLL RESULTS
Total ballots: 322

**Which politician would be your preferred GOP presidential nominee in 2008?

Total votes: 315
George Allen: 22 votes (7 percent)
Jeb Bush: 49 votes (15.6 percent)
Bill Frist: 31 votes (9.8 percent)
Rudy Giuliani: 74 votes (23.5 percent)
John McCain: 15 votes (4.8 percent)
Condoleezza Rice: 110 votes (34.9 percent)
Mitt Romney: 7 votes (2.2 percent)

Write-ins:
--Tommy Thompson, 2 votes (0.6 percent)
--One vote each for Newt Gingrich, Norman Schwarzkopf, Alan Keyes, Sam Brownback, J.C. Watts

**Which politician would be your preferred GOP gubernatorial nominee in 2006?

Total votes: 317
Mark Green: 182 votes (57.4 percent)
Scott Walker: 133 votes (42.0 percent)

Write-ins:
--One vote each for Mark Neumann, Tim Michels

**Which politician would be your preferred GOP lieutenant governor nominee in 2006?

Total votes: 279
Jean Hundertmark: 204 votes (73.1 percent)
Sheila Harsdorf: 65 votes (23.3 percent)

Write-ins: John Sharpless, Chris Green, Van Mobley, Jim Villa, Margaret Farrow, Cate Zeuske, Scott Walker, Oscar Herrera, Scott Suder, Steve Freese

**Which politician would be your preferred GOP attorney general nominee in 2006?

Total votes: 312
J.B. Van Hollen: 261 votes (83.7 percent)
Paul Bucher: 47 (15.1 percent)

Write-ins: Mark Gundrum: 3 votes (1.0 percent)
One vote for Robert Lorge


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