Exit polls show Wisconsin Republicans feel betrayed by their party, Democrats worried about income inequality

Voters in Milwaukee.
(Image credit: Darren Hauck/Getty Images)

Early exit polling shows that Wisconsin Democrats who came out to vote in today's primary are more liberal than in previous years, and the Republicans are more conservative.

Edison Research found that three-quarters of GOP voters described themselves as conservative, compared to 61 percent in 2012, and two-thirds of Democrats said they were liberal, compared to 46 percent in 2008. The Republicans polled said the economy, terrorism, and government spending were the most important issues, with immigration a distant fourth, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Close to two-thirds supported a temporary ban on letting non-U.S. Muslims into the country, almost half said they felt "betrayed" by Republican Party politicians, and roughly nine in 10 said they were angry or dissatisfied with the federal government.

On the Democratic side, voters were asked if they thought the economy, income inequality, health care, or terrorism was the most important issue, and the economy and income inequality were the top two choices. Slightly more than half want the next president to continue the policies of President Obama, with close to one-third saying they'd rather have more liberal policies and a tiny fraction wanting more conservative policies. Just one-third of the Democratic voters said they were very worried about the economy, about half as many as the Republicans, and most said they wanted the next president to have political experience.

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An Associated Press exit poll found that nearly 4 in 10 Wisconsin Republicans are scared of a Donald Trump presidency, while about a quarter are excited about him; less than 15 percent were excited about John Kasich or Ted Cruz. More than half of Democrats said Bernie Sanders inspires them more than Hillary Clinton about the future of the country, while three-quarters said Clinton has realistic policies, compared to two-thirds who said that about Sanders.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.