Polls show voters' views of Democrats have worsened. Can a beer vendor help change that?

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It's an extremely unlikely outcome, but Ryan Strnad believes he has a pitch that can take him from selling beer in the aisles of American Family Field to enacting policy as the next governor of Wisconsin.

Strnad launched his longshot bid for governor last week. Strnad is running as a Democrat, so in addition to earning name recognition without much of a political background, he'll also have to contend with voters having increasingly negative views of the Democratic Party.

A Marquette Law School Poll in June found only 36% of respondents view Democrats favorably, compared to 61% who hold an unfavorable view of the party. While Republicans didn't get glowing reviews either, their 43% favorable rating presented a larger-than-usual gap, according to the poll's director, Charles Franklin.

"Both parties are below 50%, but in 2020 or going back to the 2010s, we would've seen rough comparability between the two parties in favorability," Franklin said. "They might've been different by one or two percentage points but not six or seven percentage points."

Nationally, Democrats fared even worse in a national CNBC poll earlier this month. Only 24% of respondents held a favorable view of the party while 56% gave an unfavorable rating. That net balance of -32 percentage points was the worst rating for any party in the poll going back to at least 1996.

Strnad said in an interview Tuesday he believes a strong pro-worker platform would be central to Democrats winning back many of those voters.

"I have kind of a simple slogan. It's this: I stick up for people who want to make money," Strnad said. "If I take office and I have the opportunity, Act 10 will be gone, right-to-work legislation will be gone. I also want to make it more difficult for employers to fire their workers."

Franklin said the loss of support among blue-collar voters is the biggest reason Democrats' favorability numbers have deteriorated at both the state and national levels.

"This has shaken the coalitions of both parties," Franklin said. "Making the Democrats more of a college-educated party and less of a working-class party, and that's been to the party's detriment in electoral outcomes."

When asked about how he'd demonstrate alignment with working-class priorities, Strnad breaks with much of his party's leadership on multiple issues. He singled out environmental regulation as one area where he'd prioritize changes.

"I am pro-environment, but I think, right now, we're being a little too strict with the environment," he said. "On day one of my time in office, I will sign an executive order outlawing emissions tests for vehicles in all 72 counties."

Currently, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) requires emissions tests in seven counties: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha.

Strnad also singled out restrictions Democrats backed during the COVID-19 pandemic as another source of working-class distrust of the party. 

"I was shocked that the Republican Party, especially Donald Trump, they were more pro-worker and pro-small business by wanting to lift the coronavirus restrictions than the Democrats did," he said.

Other Democrats believe the answer is projecting more strength. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who has said he wants to run for governor, but not necessarily in 2026, called for the party to show more "backbone" in pushing back against President Donald Trump.

Johnson pointed to California response to Texas' mid-decade efforts to redistrict the state's congressional maps in effort to gain more seats in the U.S. House. Johnson said he believed California responding in kind is the action voters want to see.

"Democrats, I think, often times turn the other cheek," Johnson said. "Republicans have obviously taken the gloves off. They're not playing by the rules. Democrats should meet that fire with fire."

Strnad joins Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez as the only Democrats actively campaigning for governor at the moment. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has indicated he will enter the race in the coming weeks, and State Sen. Kelda Roys from Madison has said she's likely to run for governor, too.

On the Republican side, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and New Berlin manufacturing business owner Bill Berrien are the candidates currently in the race. Congressman Tom Tiffany has hinted strongly at his plans to launch a bid for governor. 

Wisconsin's primary election for partisan offices like governor and Congress will take place August 11.