WASHINGTON — In Wisconsin, Democrats went with the candidate who excited them the most, and Republicans chose the candidate who wasn’t Donald Trump.
As Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the state’s Republican primary, exit polls show his victory appeared to be driven more by fear of Trump than excitement about Cruz. In fact, a majority of Wisconsin Republican voters said they’re either concerned or scared of a potential Trump presidency.
On the Democratic side, voters chose Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who they saw as the more exciting, inspiring and honest candidate, according to early results of exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research. But even then, more voters view former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the candidate most likely to beat Trump, who has been the Republican front-runner throughout the primaries.
A majority of Republican voters were either concerned or scared of a potential Trump presidency, the polling showed.
More than a third said they’re scared about what Trump would do as president, and about 2 in 10 said they’re concerned.
At the same time, though, about a quarter of Wisconsin Republican primary voters said they were excited about Trump, while less than 15 percent said that of either Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Most are at least optimistic about a Cruz presidency.
About 7 in 10 Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin said they were excited or optimistic about what either candidate would do in office, but they’re more likely to be excited about Sanders. About a third said they were excited about what he would do, while about half as many say that about Clinton.
Nearly 60 percent said Sanders inspires them more about the future of the country. But more than half also said Clinton is the candidate best suited to beat Trump. Three-quarters said Clinton has realistic policies, more than the two-thirds who said that of Sanders.
Democratic voters were more likely to describe Sanders than Clinton as honest. About nine in 10 say so of Sanders, while about 6 in 10 say so of Clinton.
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