Political parties vying to bolster support in western Wisconsin
HUDSON, Wis. — You may have heard some political pundits talk about Wisconsin being one of the most critical states in the presidential race.
If you look back at previous presidential outcomes, especially in 2012 compared to 2016, you can see more western Wisconsin counties turning red for Donald Trump. In a big upset in 2016, those red western Wisconsin counties pushed Trump to a narrow 20,000 vote victory helping clinch the presidency.
In 2020, those western Wisconsin counties stayed red for Trump, but President Biden narrowly beat Trump — also by just over 20,000 votes. In St. Croix County, which includes Hudson, the GOP chair says this year the national Republican party has had campaign staff on the ground for months and enthusiasm for Trump is building.
"We've had a lot of people joining the Republican party. Since 2020, I believe our our membership in our county party has tripled," said Matthew Rust, Chai of the St. Croix County GOP.
The state GOP also says it is working to maximize turnout in western Wisconsin to secure a Trump win.
"Western Wisconsin is critical to any Republican victory," said Matt Fisher, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin GOP. "We feel confident about where the polls stand and also the dynamics of the race lie, especially in western Wisconsin."
But state Democrats are saying not so fast.
"We saw Biden do better than Clinton did in western Wisconsin in 2020 versus 2016, and we have an opportunity to win multiple state legislative seats," said Ben Wikler, the Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Wilker says Democrats are working on upping the turnout for Mr. Biden in western Wisconsin cities like Eau Claire, LaCrosse and Superior.
"Anything that moves a few thousand voters here, a few thousand voters there, could have a huge effect on the presidential election outcome in Wisconsin. And then what happens in Wisconsin can decide what happens nationally," said professor Anthony Chergosk with the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse.