The battle for Wisconsin is ramping up this week with the five presidential campaigns turning their focus to the Badger States, and many political pundits agreeing that Wisconsin is a key state in the race. The Wisconsin primary takes place on April 5.
Wisconsin will be the only state having a primary that day, making it the first to have a day to itself with both parties voting since New Hampshire on Feb. 9. Wisconsin will be the focus of the presidential race, particularly on the Republican side, after primaries in Arizona and Utah.
Early voting started in Wisconsin on Monday and ends April 1.
The two Democrats and three Republicans are all establishing a presence two weeks ahead of what is shaping up to be a meaningful primary as the nation turns their eyes to Wisconsin.
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will host events in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Madison Thursday. The event in Madison will be at the Hillary for Wisconsin Field Office on Odana Road.
"We need to elect a president who can do all parts of the job and who can keep Republicans from ripping away the progress we’ve achieved," Hillary Clinton said in a statement. "I hope Wisconsinites take the chance to get out and vote early in this election, because the stakes couldn’t be higher."
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has opened up campaign offices in Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay. Jane Sanders, the wife of the Vermont senator, said she thinks her husband can do well in Wisconsin, as she spoke with Wisconsin reporters as the Sanders team opened up the campaign offices.
"I think nobody thinks that people should be living in poverty if they work 40 hours a week, so the idea of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, is something that we think should bring some support there," she said.
Officials with Sanders’ campaign expect he’ll be in Wisconsin at least once before April 5.
Republican Ted Cruz, who is hoping to whittle the race down to a two-man contest, has an event scheduled at Serb Hall in Milwaukee on April 1. Hosted by the Republican Party of Milwaukee County, invited guests include all local and statewide Republican officials. Emcees for the evening will be Vicki McKenna, Jay Weber and Dan O’Donnell of WISN Radio.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, needing a victory to stay relevant, campaigned in Wauwatosa Tuesday. Meanwhile, Donald Trump – who is trying to reach that magic number of 1,237 delegates required to clinch the nomination – announced today that he will visit Janesville next week Tuesday.
For the Democratic Party, Wisconsin is expected to have 96 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 86 will be "pledged delegates" which are allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she receives in a state’s primary or caucus. A candidate is eligible to receive a share of the state’s pledged delegates if he or she wins at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus.
For the Republican Party, Wisconsin is expected to have 42 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 24 will be district-level delegates (three for each of the state’s eight congressional districts). District delegates will be allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who wins a plurality of the vote in a congressional district will receive all of that district’s delegates.
The most-recent Marquette University Law School poll for the Republican Party presidential primary polling had Wisconsin voters preferring Donald Trump with 30 percent over Marco Rubio with 20 percent and Ted Cruz with 19 percent. That poll was taken on Feb. 18-21. Rubio has since dropped out.
That same poll had Bernie Sanders beating Hillary Clinton (44 percent-43 percent) among Democratic voters.
