Here & Now

How Are Voters Approaching Election Day in Rural Wisconsin

Frederica Freyberg:

Now back to presidential politics. All eyes are on Wisconsin this fall and particularly on rural Wisconsin, where a tight statewide vote could be decided. Our partners at Milwaukee PBS traveled to Clark County to see how voters there were approaching Election Day. Here’s Portia Young.

Portia Young:

America’s heartland is historically where political candidates find a strong conservative base. Rural Wisconsin is traditionally no different.

Dean Lesar:

Loyal is in the middle of a conservative area. I can’t foresee that changing in my lifetime.

Portia Young:

That’s Dean Lesar, editor of the Tribune Record Gleaner newspaper in Loyal, a small dairy town in the northwest part of the state. Loyal is also in Clark County, where there are twice as many dairy cows as people.

[moo]

Portia Young:

Lesar says fiscal conservatism and the abortion issue drive the large republican vote in Loyal and Clark County. He says this is definitely Republican territory no matter who the candidate. He acknowledges being the odd man out as a Democrat.

Dean Lesar:

Nobody seems to be able to meet in the middle or listen to the other side. This is what I think and if you don’t, in fact, I oughta… I’m not so sure. A good friend of mine a couple weeks ago call me an idiot because I’m not voting for Trump in fall. So there you have it.

Portia Young:

Lesar says COVID-19 also widened the divide, a divide he thinks became clear four years ago. Farmers, a large population in this county, have traditionally voted Republican and have taken a big economic hit over the last five years. Young dairy farmers Robin and Chris Rueth say they haven’t quite made up their minds, but understand why there is still so much support for President Trump in Clark County.

Robin Rueth:

The Republican Party started here in Wisconsin too. I guess what people like about Trump, too, if he says he’s going to do something, he does it, you know? I guess that’s what a lot of people around here like.

Chris Rueth:

Yeah.

Robin Rueth:

Because that’s what people are around here. People are true to their word around here. So I think that has a lot to do with it.

Chris Rueth

You don’t know how the person really is unless you meet them face-to-face, which is hard to do.

Portia Young:

Some political writers think Donald Trump winning rural Wisconsin might be harder to do this time around. He won Wisconsin four years ago in small towns like Loyal and in rural counties.

Frederica Freyberg:

Thanks to Portia Young and Milwaukee PBS for that report.