What you need to know about this toss-up race

WISCONSIN. A STATE TO WATCH.
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

This is the season when we political journalists stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning most nights, combing through races. By moonlight, or laptop glow, we look at a wild palette of statistics, polls, television ads and policy statements.

And in the end, we often gravitate to a core group of states and districts we like to watch.

Over the next few weeks, we will highlight several of these. Today, we’re starting with a key Senate state: Wisconsin.

Our anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff traveled to the Badger State last week and filed this initial report (with more reports on Wisconsin races to come this week). Here are a few things to know.

Why watch Wisconsin?

Wisconsin's races have been close recently. Take the presidential contests: President Joe Biden won Wisconsin by 0.6 percentage points in 2020, and former President Donald Trump took the state by just 1.7 percentage points in 2016. Gov. Tony Evers, too, won the gubernatorial race in 2018 by 1.1 percentage points.
A high-profile incumbent senator is at risk. Wisconsin's Ron Johnson is the most vulnerable Republican senator on the ballot this year. As we discuss below, he has become a far-right lightning rod.
A record amount of money is being spent there, with over half of it from outside of the state, Judy Woodruff reported from Madison.
The fight to control the Senate remains tight and vigorous, with polling starting to swing in a few states where Republicans are gaining ground. According to the Cook Political Report’s ratings, Wisconsin is the only toss-up Senate seat with a Republican incumbent on the ballot.

A quick state snapshot

Overall, Wisconsin is older and whiter than most of the country. It also has about the same median income level, but a higher rate of people with health insurance, as well as somewhat lower rents when compared to the United States on average.

Race and ethnicity. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, 80 percent of the state is white, non-Hispanic or Latino, compared with 59 percent for the U.S.
Age. Nearly 18 percent of Wisconsin is 65 years old or older, compared with nearly 17 percent for the U.S.
Origins. Five percent of the state was born in another country. That compares with 14 percent for the U.S. on average.
Housing. Median rent in Wisconsin, 2016 to 2020, was $872. For the U.S., the median was $1,096.
Income. In Wisconsin, the median household income (in 2020 dollars) from 2016 to 2020 was $63,293. In the U.S., it was nearly the same – $64,994.
Health care. More than 6 percent of people under 65 in Wisconsin are uninsured. That’s significantly fewer uninsured individuals, on average, than the national figure of about 10 percent.

Who is running?

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is a former accountant and CEO of a plastics company. He won his first political race, for the Senate, in 2010, against Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold. Johnson has drawn the attention of both the left and right for his recent remarks and ideas. He has rejected the idea that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was an insurrection, raised conspiracy theories and personally declined COVID vaccinations in the initial phase of the pandemic. He is a former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and his supporters tout his get-tough policies and rhetoric regarding immigration and crime.
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the Democratic challenger, is a former community organizer who became a state representative at the age of 27. He won the lieutenant governor’s seat in 2018. Outside groups and Johnson’s campaign have blasted Barnes as too liberal, and not tough enough on crime in particular. His supporters reject that and Barnes himself has said while he supports some reform, he wants to “keep criminals in jail.”

How the state votes

Registration. The deadline to submit a new voter registration by mail is next week, Oct. 19. Wisconsin also has same-day registration at polling places on Election Day.
Early in-person voting. Wisconsin has “in-person absentee” voting. Starting Oct. 25, towns and counties can offer voters the chance to fill out an absentee ballot in-person. That is allowed through Nov. 6.
Absentee voting by mail. Any registered voter can request an absentee ballot now. It must be mailed or carried back to the local election clerk, with a witness signature, and received by 8 p.m. locally on Election Day.
Ballot drop-boxes? No. They are illegal in Wisconsin, per a ruling of the state’s Supreme Court earlier this year.
In-person on Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. locally. The state is in the Central time zone.

WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Do you have questions about voting or the political process ahead of this year’s midterm elections? Voting rules can be confusing, especially after a sea of changes enacted on the local and state level over the last two years. Submit your questions here.

Your questions can help guide our coverage in the next several weeks.