Poll: GOP voters in Wisconsin favor Dewey
New York Governor given comfortable lead over Willkie
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
Political observers from now on will be focusing more and more attention on the open presidential primary in Wisconsin in April, which will instruct the state’s 24 Republican delegates on whom to support at the National Convention.
Wisconsin and New York are the first of the large states to hold primaries. The Wisconsin primary will also be the first held in the Midwestern farm area – an area that gives every indication of being the critical battleground of the 1944 campaign.
Although Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York has given no indication of entering any of the scheduled open primaries to date, a poll just completed by the Institute in Wisconsin shows him the leading choice among the rank-and-file Republicans there.
Willkie second
In fact, Governor Dewey received twice as many votes as the next highest choice, Wendell Willkie.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur runs third and Lt. Cdr. Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota, fourth.
These were the findings when field reports for the Institute in Wisconsin asked a representative segment of Republican voters which if six men mentioned frequently as Republican presidential possibilities they would prefer as their nominee.
Results listed
The poll showed:
Asked of Wisconsin Republicans: Whom would you like to see the Republican Party nominate for President?
| Dewey | 40% |
| Willkie | 20% |
| MacArthur | 15% |
| Stassen | 11% |
| Bricker | 8% |
| Eric Johnston | 6% |
Governor Dewey, in his 1940 pre-convention campaign, won the Wisconsin primary. His chief opponent was Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan.