Candidates rally voters in last minute campaign push

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Candidates for Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Senate campaigned across the state in a final effort to attract voters Saturday and Sunday.

Governor Tony Evers and challenger Tim Michels spent the weekend in the southern half of Wisconsin. They rallied support in cities like Madison and Waukesha.

Both commented on the building blocks of their campaigns.

“It isn’t like there’s this great divide between north and south, rural and urban, especially among people who like to vote for Democrats,” Evers said. “They care about the environment. They care about public schools. They want to have a good University of Wisconsin system.”

“These men and women that I’ve worked with my whole life in the army and in construction... That’s what this election is all about. That’s what my administration is always going to be about. Hardworking families in Wisconsin,” Michels said.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson joined Michels.

“The 40-year high inflation, the record gas prices, the sky-rocketing crime and open-border flooded deadly drugs. All of these disasters were caused by Democratic policies,” Johnson said.

Current Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes spoke in Milwaukee.

“Things that we support are what a majority of people in this state support... whether it’s raising minimum wage, whether it’s providing health care to every person in this state, in this country,” Barnes said.

Strategists are watching Northeast Wisconsin closely on election night. They told our sister station in Milwaukee, WISN, the race depends on candidate’s performances in a few key counties.

“On the Republican side it’s really the ‘BOW’ and ‘WOW’ counties. Brown, Outagamie, Winnebago are the ‘BOW’ counties. Washington, Ozaukee, Waukesha are the ‘WOW’ counties. Republicans need to roll up big margins in those six counties,” Republican Strategist Bill McCoshen said.

Democratic Strategist Joe Zepecki is watching another part of the state.

“I’m looking at Dane County. How high can the big blue machine go? Bill knows that’s the part of the state that’s growing and Democratic performance has been increasing every two years.”

A recent Marquette Law School poll has some wondering whether voters plan on casting a ballot for candidates from different political parties.

The strategists say they don’t anticipate enough split-ticket voting to make a significant difference at the polls.

“There will always be ticket-splitters,” Zepecki explained. “I think what we’ve seen in Wisconsin politics is that number is smaller and smaller every two years. I expect that trend to continue. I’m not saying zero, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough to be determinative in either of the races.”

“Fewer and fewer every cycle. Joe’s right. The last time we had a split-ticket at the time was 1998. Russ Feingold won the U.S. Senate seat. Tommy Thompson was reelected for his fourth term as Governor. WE haven’t seen anything like that since,” McCoshen said.

Action 2 News continues to bring you the very latest in your voice, your vote coverage.

We’ll be live as candidates gather with supporters on election night. Plus, we’ll have results as they come in on our website at wbay.com/elections.

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