This story was updated to add new information . Folks across Wisconsin still have a lot to say about the outcome of Tuesday's presidential election, which became official when
Wisconsin was called for Donald Trump at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, further cementing the state's legend as a battleground state. At roughly the same time, incumbent U.S. Tammy Baldwin
declared victory over Republican businessman Eric Hovde, marking a remarkable split at the top of the ticket where a Republican was propelled to the White House and a Democrat was sent to her third term in the Senate. Baldwin delivered a
victory speech today , Hovde has yet to concede. ➤"I am disappointed in the quality of the candidates and their campaigns. Neither side had any clear policy goals and seemed to be running purely on the fact that they weren't the other person." — Asta from Milwaukee.
Why voters supported Donald Trump for president
Why voters supported Tammy Baldwin for the U.S. Senate
Why voters supported Eric Hovde for the U.S. Senate
How voters rate the strength of our democracy after campaign
Did you experience election anxiety as the Nov. 5 vote approached?
➤"If my candidate loses, I feel no sense of representation by the opposition. Not only I am not their constituent, I may be their enemy." — Alice from Milwaukee.
It's been a campaign season like no other that we've seen
After enduring months of
campaign visits , countless
TV ads and a mountain of
political mailers ,
Wisconsin voters had their say Tuesday. The results will be closely watched because Wisconsin is one of eight
swing states that could determine who is the next president. Adding to the interest is a
U.S. Senate race that could shift control of the upper chamber to Republicans if GOP challenger Eric Hovde defeats incumbent Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat seeking her third term. Now it's time to wait and watch the
results roll in . We won't know the outcome until early Wednesday due to a delay in the city of Milwaukee's
processing of absentee ballots .
Election anxiety may end up being the phrase of the year
We started the year expecting the presidential race to be between an incumbent octogenarian and a 78-year-old challenger. Joe Biden bombed in a debate against Donald Trump in June, insisted he would stay in the race despite calls to step down, then dropped out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump survived an assassination attempt just days before he accepted the Republican nomination in Milwaukee. That was just July and August alone. The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris featured an exchange over a false claim Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets. It only went downhill from there. Wisconsin had a front seat with the presidential nominees and their running mates making
more than 40 stops in Wisconsin since mid-July. Along the way, a new phrase was added to the language lexicon: "
Election anxiety ." Can anyone blame us?
Jim Fitzhenry is the Ideas Lab Editor/Director of Community Engagement for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Reach him at [email protected] or 920-993-7154.
