Volunteers for the Walworth County Democrats fold pamphlets for canvassers ahead of this year’s presidential election.
Keren Carrión/NPR
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Keren Carrión/NPR
Volunteers for the Walworth County Democrats fold pamphlets for canvassers ahead of this year’s presidential election.
Keren Carrión/NPR
Elkhorn, Wisconsin is a small town less than an hour outside of Milwaukee that feels like a world away from the big city.
The main street looks like it’s been unchanged for decades. There’s a barber shop, a saloon and a restaurant that advertises homemade pizza. And while this is a Republican stronghold, Democrats are trying to make some inroads here.
“Our goal in this office is to move the needle,” says Ellen Holly, the former chair of the Walworth County Democrats.
She’s used to being in the blue minority. But today, she’s surrounded by volunteers who agree with her, stuffing pamphlets into plastic baggies that canvassers will take door knocking around the neighborhood.
In other parts of the state, Republicans are doing the same – knocking on doors and talking to people in solidly blue areas.
In a state where every vote matters, campaigns are not only trying to win in counties where they’re strongest. They’re also trying to lose by less in places where votes for their candidate are harder to find.
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The Democrats
Holly says that the Wisconsin Democrats have a specific goal in mind with their efforts: win at least 42% of the vote.
It might be counterintuitive to celebrate a loss, but for Holly, it’s a positive measure of progress.
“Everything we do here helps,” she said. “Biden won, I think, by 21,000 votes in the state. That’s what we contributed. Now, I can’t say that it was just because of us, but if we did nothing, he would not have won.”
In many ways, “lose by less” has become the key term in this campaign.
“Because Wisconsin elections are so competitive and so closely decided, the parties understand that any little gain anywhere could make the difference,” said Anthony Chergosky, who teaches political science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
So what does the strategy look like in practice? For one, door knocking.
Barb Biggler and Margie Black are Democratic party volunteers who live in Walworth County, walking through a neighborhood where Trump signs fill the lawns. But when asked if they think of it as “enemy territory,” Biggler says no.
“I kinda don’t like to think about the war and the battle and that rough language,” she said. “It kinda scares me so I don’t really want to be frightened by our own country.”
These canvassers told NPR they sometimes meet “quiet Harris voters.” They’re people who promise to support the Democrats, but don’t want to put a sign on their lawn.
The Republicans
That’s the mirror image of how Denise Salamone feels. She’s a Trump voter in a wealthy Democratic area on the edge of Milwaukee.
She says that in 2016, her neighborhood was filled with signs supporting Bernie Sanders.
She volunteers with the Milwaukee Republicans, who are trying to turn the solidly blue area a little more red.
Rob Mulcahy serves on the executive board of the Milwaukee Republicans. Like the Democrats canvassing in Walworth County, he refuses to think of this blue zone as hostile.
“It is not enemy territory for me. I have lived there my entire life. I do have the courage to put yard signs up in the last election. I put up every Republican candidate and I intend to do so again this year,” he told NPR.
Hilario Deleon, the chairman of the group, says other GOP volunteers lead with various policy topics when they knock on doors.
“We talk about economics, we talk about crime,” he said. “We talk about, y’know, actual issues that people care about. Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
While the Walworth County Democrats have a goal of hitting 42% of votes for Harris in their county, the Republicans have their own number in the big city.
“If we get more than 35%, even 38%, that is a win,” said Deleon. “Because the rest of the state will help carry us over the finish line.”
This episode was produced by Mia Venkat. It was edited by Ashley Brown and Padma Rama. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
