Wisconsin is a state steeped in history, with a vibrant political landscape. The state has had historically strong Democratic roots and is one of the most heavily Democratic leaning states in the nation. In recent years, Wisconsin has seen a resurgence in Republican candidates running for office at the state level. Recent elections have been highly competitive, with Democrats and Republicans fighting hard to take seats in the state government. With a wide variety of issues to be discussed, from healthcare and education to taxes and regulations, Wisconsin residents are engaged and informed about the politics within their state. Voters are passionate about their candidates and it shows through their voting records. As new debates arise on important topics that affect all citizens of Wisconsin, political engagement remains high as everyone works together towards a brighter future for the Badger State.
The political climate in Wisconsin is leaning liberal.
In Wisconsin 49.4% of the people voted for the Democratic Party in the last presidential election, 48.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.7% voted for an Independent Party.
In the last Presidential election, Wisconsin flipped narrowly Democratic, 49.4% to 48.8%.
Wisconsin flipped back Democratic in the most recent Presidential election, voting Democratic in five of the last six elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Wisconsin is leaning liberal.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Wisconsin, Wisconsin: d d D d r d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last four elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Wisconsin
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 338,176 contributions totaling $37,798,908 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $112 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 89,859 contributions totaling $59,291,799 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $660 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)