A new poll shows nearly half of Wisconsin voters stopped talking about politics with someone because of disagreements over the presidential race.
Forty-six percent of voters in the latest Marquette Law School Poll said personal interactions were halted by differences of opinion about the candidates. That sentiment is higher than during the past two election cycles.
Voter Jane Gamez, from suburban Milwaukee, suggested there's a disrespectful tone that starts with the campaigns and then trickles down to voters themselves.
"I think that we jump to conclusions too soon on both sides," she said, "that we're not willing to discuss."
Gamez, a conservative who plans to vote for Donald Trump this fall, said her mind can be changed when there's a thoughtful approach to civic engagement. In the race for the White House, the Marquette poll showed Kamala Harris leading Trump by four percentage points. The head-to-head matchup results are consistent with the school's early September poll.
The survery also indicated there's a lot of enthusiasm among Wisconsin voters. Elsewhere in the Midwest, Sheronda Orridge of Minneapolis said she'll be voting for Harris in November. She said she isn't a big fan of politics, but her concerns about Trump are enough to motivate her to support the Democratic ticket.
"It's closer to my vision than what I see for Donald Trump," she said, "because he [doesn't] see people. He just sees himself."
Orridge suggested that preserving democracy is a major priority as she looks ahead to the election, and she views voting as a duty for people who are serious about enacting the political change they believe in.
Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
