Dem
47
GOP
53
Wisconsin is probably the ultimate swing state. So much so that the French minister for Europe, Jean-Noel Barrot, once said: "We cannot leave the security of Europe in the hands of voters in Wisconsin every 4 years." Or, to update an old saying: "As Wisconsin goes, so goes the nation." In the past five presidential elections, Wisconsin went with the winner each time. It was also the closest state in 2024.
Wisconsin Democrats seem to understand that and have just elected a vigorous young (33) chairman, Devin Remiker, to run the state party. One of his first comments after his election was "The job is about building a bulwark against a hostile administration that seems intent on subverting democracy. That really places in me an immense sense of responsibility to help make sure that we can be that bulwark ahead of 2028."
Remiker is succeeding Ben Wikler (44), who was very successful. Remiker is quite young for such an important position within the Democratic Party. He sees his job as year-round organizing, especially the communications infrastructure. The old ways—especially television ads—don't work with many young voters, so he has to figure out what does work, especially how to use social media effectively. In that sense, having a millennial as chair might be a good choice since he knows better than older people how to reach millennials and the older Gen Z'ers who are eligible to vote. They have low turnout rates and are harder to reach. Maybe he can find the silver bullet.
Another thing Remiker is focused on is getting the word out to all 72 counties in Wisconsin. Here is the 2024 presidential election map in Wisconsin by precinct:
The blue blob in the bottom center is the Madison metropolitan area. The blue area east of Madison near the state line is Milwaukee. The rectangle northeast of Madison is the Menominee Indian Reservation. The blue bits in the northern part of the state are Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland Counties, which are in the Duluth, MN, suburbs and also have substantial Native American populations. They have been very Democratic for a century. Other than these blue hotspots, the state is almost entirely red.
Remiker is going to make a great effort to spread the word in RedLand. After all, getting a red county with 30,000 voters from 20% Democratic to 30% Democratic is 3,000 more votes. In statewide elections, it doesn't matter where the votes come from, and the deep-red counties offer a lot of potential. Sometimes, simply showing up and listening to the voters there is enough to show them you care about them and that alone could win votes. This is definitely on Remiker's agenda. (V)