By james art DANE COUNTY, Wis. – Over the past three election cycles, Republicans have struggled in Wisconsin’s statewide races. This year, they hope a new focus on a Democratic stronghold can help them turn things around.
Wisconsin’s second-largest county, Dane is home to the state capital of Madison, the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin, and hundreds of thousands of blue-collar votes that have driven the Democratic Party’s recent statewide gains. There is the fastest growing population in Wisconsin, s turnout which also continues to increase. And it served as the source of so many Democratic Party votes that one strategist last year told Politico“What Democrats are doing in Dane County really makes it impossible for Republicans to win a statewide race.”
Republicans don’t expect to flip Dane. Far from it. But there is a concerted effort to try to “lose better,” as one strategist put it. After all, it’s this “lose better” strategy for Democrats that has made them so much harder to win.