Wisconsin’s voters — including University of Wisconsin students — participated in the Spring Election and Presidential Preference Vote April 2, according to associate professor of Political Science Alex Tahk. Former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden were secured for the Republican and Democratic party selection respectively, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
While both candidates attained their vote as predicted, the results of this primary provide insights for the upcoming 2024 election, according to the Associated Press. Wisconsin voters also decided on amendments to the state’s constitution, according to Senior Staff Attorney with the State Democratic Research Initiative Derek Clinger.
“There’s a lot of important races being decided today [April 2],” Clinger said. “I think it’s fair to call the presidential primary anticlimactic at this point. Those races are basically over, but there’s other important races — at the school board level, there’s levies all over the state, schooling funding, school board races, trial court judges and there’s two really big questions about amending the state constitution.”
For the presidential aspect, a portion of Democrats voted “uninstructed,” which weakened Biden’s overall polling numbers. The reasoning behind this vote is in response to how the Biden administration has handled affairs relating to the war in Gaza, according to WPR.
Before the election, activists held protests and movements with the goal of achieving 20,000 uninstructed voters — the margin of votes Biden had won by in the 2020 election, according to WPR. Voters not only achieved this, but doubled this number to around 40,000 votes.
Similarly, Trump secured the vote among Republican voters, however, these results show a growing fragmentation among the party. In the 2020 election, Trump had secured 98% of the primary vote but this was decreased to 79% — around 13% of voters chose to support South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and around 3% choose Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump, according to WPR.
Ultimately, these results indicate differing sentiments among both Democrats and Republicans which will likely result in another close presidential election.
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Wisconsin voters also voted on whether or not to approve two constitutional amendments. One aims to prohibit state and local governments from seeking, accepting or using privately donated money or equipment to carry out elections and the other prohibits any individual besides an election official designated by law from participating in the election directing process, according to the State Democracy Initiative Research.
The desire of Republicans to pass these amendments related to donations by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg which helped cover costs of administering elections in 2020, according to the Wisconsin Examiner. Republicans heavily criticized this donation, claiming it was an attempt to undermine the election, according to SDIR. Voters choose to pass both amendments signifying a win for Republicans.
While the outcome of this primary did not come as a surprise to many, it signifies not only the role Dane County residents have in deciding presidential candidates but also allows for their voices to be heard, according to Tahk.
“Everybody should care about what’s happening in our state and who is elected and who’s in office and [people] should generally care about voting and having their voice be heard,” Tahk said.
