Politics
Nearly 2 In 3 Voters In Rural Wisconsin Support Legalizing Marijuana, New Poll From Conservative Groups Shows
Days after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) listed marijuana legalization as among his top priorities for the 2025 legislative session, a newly published survey suggests the reform would be welcomed by voters in rural parts of the state. Nearly two thirds (65 percent) said they support legalizing cannabis.
The poll, from the conservative nonprofit Institute for Reforming Government and the State Policy Network, asked 541 voters from rural counties in Wisconsin about a range of policy issues. Separately, pollsters also conducted an online qualitative study, asking 15 voters of various political affiliations about their policy views.
Broadly speaking, rural voters in the state have “a desire for less government, more economic opportunity, and freedom to pursue the life they seek,” the report concludes, adding: “Perhaps contrary to what we may stereotypically think, it means rural voters are open to legalizing cannabis and want the freedom to make personal decisions even on issues like abortion.”
Authored by Erin Norman, senior director of strategic communications at State Policy Network, the report says of marijuana legalization that “this once liberal position is now a majority opinion in the state.”
“Attitudes about legalizing marijuana are more liberal than one might expect from a generally conservative rural population,” Norman wrote. “Only a handful of rural Wisconsin voters in this study oppose the legalization of the drug.”
Among the reasons cited by supporters of legalization include “it being a relatively safe drug (some think it is safer than alcohol), it can create a revenue source for the state, and it can be used medicinally to relieve suffering,” the report adds.
Cannabis remains illegal in Wisconsin for both medical and broader adult use.
Institute for Reforming Government
Comments from the qualitative online survey shed further light on how some voters view the issue.
“It’s a natural herb. Let it be used. Keeping it illegal makes it cost more,” said a conservative Republican participant identified only as Petra S.
Michelle S., a moderate Democrat, said she thinks “it’s safer than alcohol which is legal,” adding: “It seems silly not to legalize it when we have a state bordering us where it is legal and a taxpaying industry.”
Conservative independent Julia A. said of marijuana: “Many states have already approved its use. I believe it does have medicinal value. I see alcohol as being more of a gateway drug (more readily available) than pot.”
Notably, the survey asked some voters whether they support legalizing “marijuana” and others whether they supported legalizing “cannabis.” While the difference in responses was fairly slim (6 percent), people were more likely to say they supported cannabis legalization.
“A split sample was used to test this policy in two ways – ‘legalizing marijuana’ and ‘legalizing cannabis’-and both draw support,” the report says.
Institute for Reforming Government
While the report emphasizes that cannabis legalization is no longer a partisan issue in rural Wisconsin, its results still show a striking difference of opinion between self-identified Republicans and Democrats.
Among Democrats, more than 8 in 10 (82 percent) said they supported legalizing the substance. Of GOP voters, meanwhile, less than half (46 percent) favored the reform.
Counties included in the rural-focused survey were Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo, Burnett, Clark, Crawford, Dodge, Dunn, Florence, Forest, Grant, Green Lake, Iron, Jackson, Juneau, Lafayette, Langlade, Lincoln, Manitowoc, Marinette, Marquette, Menominee, Monroe, Oneida, Pepin, Polk, Portage, Price, Richland, Rusk, Sauk, Sawyer, Shawano, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Walworth, Washburn, Waupaca, Waushara and Wood.
As for Evers, last week the governor laid out his administration’s post-election agenda, putting “legalizing marijuana” in second position on a list of items he’d like to see implemented in the new year. Other proposed reforms included expanding healthcare, promoting gun safety and more.
Evers has long advocated for ending cannabis prohibition in the state, but he’s faced consistent resistance from the GOP-controlled legislature. While Democrats picked up several seats last month, breaking a Republican supermajority, they’re still outnumbered in both chambers, which will likely complicate any attempt to enact broad legalization until at least after the 2026 elections.
In May, Evers had said he was “hopeful” that the November election would lead to Democratic control of the legislature, in part because he argued it would position the state to finally legalize cannabis.
“We’ve been working hard over the last five years, several budgets, to make that happen,” he said at the time. “I know we’re surrounded by states with recreational marijuana, and we’re going to continue to do it.”
But the GOP-controlled legislature has so far failed to pass even limited medical cannabis legislation, even a conservative bill was filed in January that the Assembly speaker had promoted. Republicans have also consistently stripped marijuana proposals from the governor’s budget requests.
A Wisconsin Democratic Assemblymember tried to force a vote on a medical cannabis compromise proposal in February, as an amendment to an unrelated kratom bill, but he told Marijuana Moment he suspects leadership intentionally pulled that legislation from the agenda at the last minute to avoid a showdown on the issue.
That move came as the GOP speaker retreated on his own limited cannabis legislation that a top Republican senator criticized as anti-free market because it would’ve created a system of state-run dispensaries.
Sen. Melissa Agard (D), who has long championed legalization, slammed Republicans for what she described as a “smoke and mirrors” medical marijuana proposal.
The state Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of the economic impact of a legalization bill from Agard last year, projecting that the reform would generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue.
Also, a legislative analysis requested by the minority leader estimated that Wisconsin residents spent more than $121 million on cannabis in Illinois alone in 2022, contributing $36 million in tax revenue to the neighboring state.
Evers and other Democrats have insisted that they would be willing to enact a modest medical marijuana program, even if they’d prefer more comprehensive reform.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers formally introduced a measure to decriminalize marijuana possession last December. Sponsors had hoped the limited, noncommercial reform would win enough support to clear the state’s GOP-controlled legislature and become law in parallel with the separate medical cannabis bill.
