Lower turnout in Milwaukee County was a big reason behind Donald Trump’s surprise victory in Wisconsin, as was his support in western Wisconsin counties that had voted Democrat in the past.
Trump beat Clinton in the state by roughly 27,000 votes.
Trump had 1,409,467 Wisconsin voters, just surpassing the 1,407,966 voters Romney had in 2012, according to the latest Associated Press update.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, had more than 235,000 votes fewer than Barack Obama did in 2012, with 1,382,210 voters backing her, compared with 1,620,985 who voted for Obama in 2012.
Secretary Clinton had 288,986 votes in Milwaukee County, while President Barack Obama had 332,438 votes in 2012 and 319,819 votes in 2008.
Trump picked up several western Wisconsin counties that backed Obama last cycle. In 2012, for example, Obama won with more than 56 percent of the vote in Grant, Trempealeau and Jackson counties. Trump won those counties with 51.3 percent, 54.3 percent and 53.3 percent, respectively.
Trump also had larger margins than Romney in the Fox Valley. He won Outagamie County with 54.2 percent of the vote, while Romney took 50.1 percent. In Fond du Lac County, Trump’s percentage was 60.8 percent, while Romney’s was 56.8 percent.
Statewide, voter turnout was lower than expected. In fact, the unofficial 66.23 percent turnout would be the lowest since 1996, when 58 percent of the state’s voting age population turned out.
-Wisolitics.com is a media partner of BizTimes Milwaukee.
