After flipping red as a key swing state for President Donald Trump in 2016, former Vice President Joe Biden claimed Wisconsin’s electoral votes today in what is being called one of the most important elections of a lifetime.
Wisconsin was a battleground state in the 2020 presidential election, and its 10 electoral votes were highly sought after by both candidates due to Wisconsin’s history of swinging between political parties.
University of Wisconsin Political Science Professor Howard Schweber spoke on Wisconsin’s importance in this election.
“Most states pretty clearly lean either red or blue, so pretty divided states [like Wisconsin] become pivotal,” Schweber said. “We’re always in play because we’re divided and because elections are close.”
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Both Biden and Trump visited the state numerous times ahead of Election Day, hoping to sway voters. According to ABC News, Biden told a reporter he believed he was going to win the state during a rally in late October.
Two months later, Wisconsin was called in Biden’s favor early in the afternoon Wednesday. The Associated Press reported Biden winning Wisconsin with 49.6% of the vote, with Trump retaining 48.9% of the state’s vote. According to the Dane County Clerk’s Office, Biden won Dane County — one of the largest Democratic strongholds in the state — with 75.5% of the vote.
Schweber stated that he was not surprised by Wisconsin voting blue this election because of how evenly divided the state is.
“Let’s be clear: it didn’t flip blue in some sort of overwhelming decisive way,” Schweber said. “We’re a very evenly divided state and on every given election cycle the outcome goes one way or another based on a couple of percentage points of variation.”
According to the Associated Press, Biden has a lead of about 20,000 votes in Wisconsin, a small enough margin for Trump to call for a recount, which he did.
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Wisconsin Elections Commission Director Meagan Wolfe stated in a video this morning that Wisconsin’s unofficial election results were in from every jurisdiction except one town of fewer than 300 voters, and that all election procedures complied fully with the law.
When asked if he thought the recount would make a difference, Schweber said he believed it would not.
“Historically, Wisconsin recounts have never — in modern history — resulted in changes of more than a couple hundred votes,” Schweber said. “At the moment, to my understanding, Biden is leading by 20,000, so there’s really minimal possibility of an actual change in the outcome.”
According to the Associated Press, Biden is at 264 electoral votes as of 11 p.m. Wednesday night, only needing six more to secure a victory. Official results from remaining states are expected to be released as soon as ballots are counted.
