MILWAUKEE — The political season is off to a fast start with the departure of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, setting off a mad dash to replace him.
Milwaukee voters are just weeks away from a mayoral primary that has 11 candidates scrambling to get on the ballot.
The primary is Feb.15, which is less than six weeks away. The top two vote getters in the non partisan election face off April 5.
TMJ4's Chief Political Reporter Charles Benson talked 2022 with Marquette Law School pollster Charles Franklin.
Benson: So what are you seeing, how does it size up for 2022?
Franklin: I'm expecting high turnout for a mid term election, now that still means probably almost certainly less than what we saw in 2020 for the presidential election.
Marquette Law School's polling expert Charles Franklin sees political pace of the mid-term elections picking up with big races for Governor and US Senate.
Democratic Governor Tony Evers is seeking reelection and Republican Senator Ron Johnson is likely to run again, but has not officially announced his plans.
Several Democratic challengers have jumped into a senate primary to win back the seat. The list of Republican challengers for governor is still fluid.
The fall primary for both races is Aug. 9.
"In terms of national forces, a midterm election is usually a challenge to the party of the incumbent president so Democrats face some uphill battles there," said Franklin, who has been polling Wisconsin voters at Marquette since 2012.
"Republicans, on the other hand, have to deal with the issues that they want to focus on, and how much does the 2020 election and President Trump's complaints about that election overshadow some of their attempts. "
In 2020, Wisconsin had record absentee voting. Will it continue for this year's November 8th general election?
"Wisconsin has not traditionally been a high absentee state," said Franklin. "But I think the experience of 2020 may lead a lot of voters to say, hey that worked pretty well for me last time, I'll continue to do it."
