However, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveals that they may have more in common than we might realize.
Jim Sensenbrenner's constituents would seem to have little in common with Tammy Baldwin's constituents. Sensenbrenner's heavily suburban U.S. House district is the state's most conservative. Baldwin's, anchored in Madison, may be its most liberal.But voters in both places have come to share a striking distinction: They flock to the polls in greater numbers than voters almost anywhere else in the country.
More than 314,000 people voted in the Republican Sensenbrenner's 5th District on Nov. 7, and more than 304,000 voted in the Democrat Baldwin's 2nd District.
Only two congressional districts in the nation produced more votes, and both are at-large, statewide seats (Montana and South Dakota) that have a lot more people than other districts.
David Canon, one of UW's Political Science All-Stars shares one of the key reasons why:
And just a little more from the "We've Done Good" Department:The two districts are among the top 60 nationally (out of 435) in education levels, says Bensen. They have a much higher share of people with college or graduate degrees than Wisconsin's six other House districts. They have the highest share of white-collar workers. Turnout also tracks with income. Sensenbrenner's district has by far the highest median income in the state.
"If you factor in education and income, that would explain a lot of it," says David Canon, political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sensenbrenner and Baldwin both expressed pride in the high vote totals in their districts, and in their own campaigns' turnout efforts. But both acknowledged broader political factors.Baldwin said 2006 turnout in her district was boosted by anti-war sentiment, the governor's race, and opposition to the same-sex marriage ban on the ballot, especially for younger voters. Election returns show huge increases (60% and more) over the 2002 midterm election in many University of Wisconsin wards in Madison. (emphasis mine)
"Usually, the issue I hear most about from my constituents is health care," she said. "In this election cycle, it was Iraq."
In the past four election cycles, Dane County has provided a steadily rising share of the vote for Democrats running statewide. In the '06 governor's race, it supplied more than one out every eight votes for Gov. Jim Doyle. It gave Doyle a bigger raw vote margin (91,343) than it gave Democrat John Kerry in 2004 - a remarkable fact considering how much lower turnout is in a midterm compared with a presidential election.
Read the entire piece here.
2 Comments:
Aty the polls registration, available in only a few States, also plays a big role in Wisconsin turnout.
Indeed- if it weren't for same day registration, college turnout on Wisconsin campuses would most likely be abysmal.
Post a Comment
<< Home