(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Huge Shift in Wisconsin Electoral Map! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-05 Judge Protasiewicz won 27 of Wisconsin's 72 counties! I haven’t heard this talked about very much, but a map that was in the New York Times practically blew my head off this morning. As a lifelong Wisconsinite, in recent years, I have gotten used to very close statewide elections that remove the gerrymandering effect that our Republican-controlled legislature and Supreme Court have imposed upon us. There have been numerous elections that depended on a handful of counties. Judge Janet Protasiewicz won her race, 55%-45% and 27 counties, a landslide by recent Wisconsin standards. If progressives won by a slim margin in recent years, it was because of turnout in Dane (Madison), Milwaukee, Douglas, Ashland, Bayfield, and Menominee Counties. That is a grand total of 6 counties. In recent years, Door County (the thumb of Wisconsin) and Brown County (Green Bay) have trended blue. If conservatives won by a slim margin, it was because of high turnout in the WOW counties: Washington, Ozaukee, and Waukesha, three suburban counties in the Milwaukee Metro area. With this history in mind, you can understand why I’m blown away that Judge Janet won 27 counties in Wisconsin! Not only the number, but the location of these counties is shocking. She won all of the counties west and south of Madison. This is largely rural with a few “big” cities like La Crosse. She won Kenosha County, once a liberal bastion which now includes sprawling suburban and exurban areas that have trended red in recent years. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican who represents this area, has to be very nervous this morning. And she won the counties south of Green Bay, the Fox River Valley counties that include Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, and Oshkosh. This is a major population area, behind only Dane and Milwaukee Counties in percentage of Wisconsin voters. It has become less red in recent years, but flipped blue in this election. This is huge! Did I mention this is huge? Now, how about those WOW counties? When I first became active with the Waukesha Democratic Party in 2016, the Dems’ goal was to someday get over 30% of the vote in these counties. Because of the population density here, 30% is a lot of votes and can swing a close statewide election. And what were the results for Judge Janet yesterday? Washington County — 38%. Waukesha County — 42%. Ozaukee County — 48%!!!!! Two (2!) of the WOW counties were over 40% for the progressive candidate. And she came within two percentage points of actually winning Ozaukee County! This is huge! Did I mention this is huge? I have no idea what the breakdown of these votes is for specific municipalities, for specific demographic groups, etc. But I can tell you that there are a lot of white, middle-upper class women in the WOW counties and in the Fox River Valley. And I suspect that they had a lot to do with this. So I am really excited this morning, not only for Wisconsin but for the entire country. If Wisconsin is being seen as a bellwether state for political trends, so much so that this election received incredible national news coverage, then this is good news for all of us this morning. Yes, this was one election. But since 2016, dedicated Dems have worked incredibly hard to gain support, percentage point by percentage point, hoping for that day we’d reach a tipping point. Much thanks goes to State Dam Chair Ben Walker, the county chairs, especially in the WOW counties, and the dedicated volunteers who have worked tirelessly over the past 7 years. Their drive to motivate and organize on the local level has resulted in a strong Democratic Party here in Wisconsin. The map I saw this morning says all of the hard work has paid off. Moderates in this state now know that there is an alternative to voting with extremist MAGA Republicans who don’t share their personal values. A tipping point towards Wisconsin progressivism? Hopefully. But I can’t help thinking that there are about 20 more counties in Wisconsin this morning that hold hope and the potential for future wins in Wisconsin. Did I say that this is huge? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/4/5/2162212/-Huge-Shift-in-Wisconsin-Electoral-Map Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/