- The results of Wisconsin's election and referendums delivered good news for President Joe Biden, highlighting how effective his re-election strategy could be.
- Wisconsin is a critical swing state that the winner of the last two presidential elections carried by the narrowest of margins.
- By aligning himself with voters in battleground states, Biden could see an advantage over Republican challengers who may only be embracing some of the top voting issues.
The results of Wisconsin's election and referendums were not only good news for the winning candidates and amendments, but also for President Joe Biden, who was delivered a hopeful sign that his 2024 strategy is on the right track.
On Tuesday, voters in Wisconsin flipped the state Supreme Court from a conservative majority to a liberal one in a massive win for abortion rights, while also passing an amendment to the state's constitution that will make it harder to post bail—a move aiming to address public safety concerns.
Biden, who is widely viewed as a centrist Democrat, has tried to ride the middle lane throughout his political career and the president has worked on both issues, abortion and crime, during his two years in the White House.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade, Biden has repeatedly vowed to protect access to abortion. At the same time, he has pushed for stauncher crime laws amid both Republican criticisms that he's soft on the issue and growing national concerns over rising crime rates. Just last month, he bucked progressives in Washington, D.C., by choosing not to veto a GOP-led bill to toughen the city's approach to crime.
With this week's results from Wisconsin, a key battleground state, it's looking like Biden may have found a path to securing a second term.
"The Wisconsin results suggest that there is a middle ground," political strategist Jay Townsend told Newsweek. "The results are a good omen for President Biden [but] ...an ominous omen for MAGA and Republicans who hope to win the next Presidential election with Trump at the top of the ticket."
The Importance of Wisconsin Voters
Wisconsin is an incredibly important state in presidential elections. In 2016, it was the tipping-point state that cost Hillary Clinton the election against Donald Trump. With less than 23,000 votes over Clinton, the swing state helped send Trump to the White House. In the 2020 election, Biden won Wisconsin with a narrow margin of 0.63—a victory even smaller than Trump's in 2016. So, it's expected that the state's voters will continue to play a critical role as 2024 approaches and that candidates on both sides of the aisle will be appealing to these Americans.
While Biden has embraced both abortion and public safety, leading Republican 2024 candidates—like Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley—have only supported one. While the GOP stars have taken a tough approach to crime, they remain firm in their anti-abortion stances, even as surveys show that most Americans believe that abortion should be legal.
An Ipsos poll released earlier this year found that 2 to 1 voters, regardless of party affiliation, would vote to establish legal abortion at the state level.
Political consultant Michael Hopkins told Newsweek that embracing both these top voter issues will create a "political firewall" for Biden.
"While Democrats may not always agree with every stance the President takes, he has been able to successfully outflank Republicans by bringing independents and moderates back into the Democratic fold."
Janet Protasiewicz, the liberal judge who defeated her conservative opponent Daniel Kelly in Tuesday's election, had supported the cash bail referendum while running on a platform to reverse Wisconsin's abortion ban.
Democratic strategist Carly Cooperman told Newsweek that Protasiewicz's positions, and subsequent win, thus deliver "a positive sign for Biden's reelection strategy."
"This approach shows a viable path for moderate and more centrist candidates who understand that voters can both care about reproductive rights and prioritize reducing crime," Cooperman said.
"By focusing on issues important to voters like inflation and the economy as well as crime, while also defending reproductive rights, Biden is aligning himself with swing voters in battleground states," she added.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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