John Bolton’s super PAC released polling suggesting the ad it ran in the Green Bay market praising GOP U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson drove up his favorable ratings with primary voters.
The spot, which aired last month, focused on national security and Nicholson’s military background declaring, “It’s time to send a Marine to the U.S. Senate.”
Polling conducted for the super PAC found Nicholson’s favorable rating among primary voters in the Green Bay market was 22 percent before the spot ad and 44 percent afterward. His unfavorable rating remained the same at 3 percent.
GOP rival Leah Vukmir, meanwhile, was at 13 percent favorable in the first poll and 3 percent unfavorable compared to a 14-2 split in the second.
The poll also found before the ad ran, 27 percent of GOP primary voters in the market backed Nicholson, compared to 10 percent for Vukmir and 2 percent for John Schiess. Afterward, Nicholson was favored by 48 percent, while 9 percent supported Vukmir and 1 percent Schiess.
The first round of polling was conducted Jan. 2-3 and the second Jan 22-23. The surveys of 350 Republican primary voters in the Green Bay market used live operators who interviewed voters over land lines and cell phones, which made up 35 percent of the samples. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points.
The PAC announced last month it planned to run the ad in the Green Bay market to test the response before taking an overall buy of $1 million statewide. A PAC spokesman said the group is still committed to the $1 million in spending and is now assessing where the money can best be spent.
See the polling memo:
https://www.boltonsuperpac.com/downloads/WI-Poll-Results.pdf
