warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Racine County Democrats Worked Till Final Hours To Ensure Wisconsin Went To Obama

Denise Guerra, Astrid Solorzano |
November 14, 2012 | 1:00 a.m. PST

Staff Reporters

Racine County Historical Museum. (reallyboring/Flickr)
Racine County Historical Museum. (reallyboring/Flickr)
For the second election in a row, Wisconsin's Racine County, a swing county with no consistent political leaning, voted for Barack Obama to be president -- though by a smaller share than in 2008.

This year the vote was split 53 to 46 percent for the incumbent, while in 2008 the president won 56 to 42 percent against McCain.

As the fifth largest county in Wisconsin, Racine County is apt for flipping in either party’s direction and swinging Wisconsin's electoral votes.

Before Obama, the county voted for President Bush in 2004, and chose to keep Republican Governor Scott Walker during the 2012 recall election.

Racine has also re-elected Paul Ryan, Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, back into the House and voted the first open lesbian, Tammy Baldwin, to serve in the Senate.

Though Wisconsin only consists of 10 electoral votes, political analysts were calling the state “The New Ohio” of 2012 describing the state could flip Republican in part because of Ryan.

In the end, the Obama camp had a better ground campaign registering voters.

On Election Day, Jane Witt, chair of the Democratic Party of Racine County described making phone calls just three hours before the polls closed and paying close attention to voter protection.

Witt said there were instances of “harassing poll workers” and that their focus was for “racial minorities to exercise their right to vote.”

Racine County is a largely comprised of working-class suburbs. For the 2012 election, many residents said the key issue for them was unemployment.
 
Lauro Davalos, 60, a manager of a Mexican restaurant in the city, said days before the election that he wants better jobs for the Latino community. 
 
“This country has many communities that come from other countries,” he said. “We should produce news jobs that lift people into higher positions.  We don’t need jobs that just make us clean houses.”
 
Even though Racine’s unemployment dipped from 9.2 percent in July to 7.7 percent in October, residents said before the election that the improvement was not enough. 

“Both of the candidates are just talking to get people’s attention,” he said prior to Election Day.

He questioned whether or not the candidates really want to improve the unemployment rate for small towns like Racine, but after a long sigh he said that on Election Day, he would vote "for who ever feels right”.
 
Jennifer Roland, 28, the manager of a Danish bakery in the city, knew exactly whom she would be voting for.
 
“Obama,” she said, “Oh yea. Definitely. Without a doubt Obama.”  Roland said she thinks the majority of her county are Obama supporters.
 
 While explaining why she answered with such confidence, she said, “I feel that he is more for the middle class, and we need people who care.”
 
Even though she said she’s excited, she can’t wait for the election to be over. “We have gotten bombarded with phone calls, TV commercials and pamphlets by mail for about three months,” Roland said.

Reach the reporters here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness