Republicans make inroads on college campuses, gains in Dane County

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Students on college campuses turned out in big numbers this week, but some deep-blue campuses were redder than expected.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, home to the largest student population in the state, has traditionally helped propel Democratic candidates to victory. But this year, students didn't deliver results Democrats had hoped.

Vice President Kamala Harris received nearly 78% of the vote across seven UW-Madison wards. It was the lowest Democratic turnout on campus after nearly eight consecutive years of improvement.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton reached 79.1% on UW-Madison campus wards. Gov. Tony Evers received 84.9% of the vote in 2022 and President Joe Biden hit the same margin in 2020.

Democrats had hoped the deep-blue college town and Dane County would springboard Harris to the White House, but in the end, Republicans made enough inroads to deliver former President Donlad Trump a victory.

Trump received 23.4% of the vote in Dane County, slightly higher than 2020 by about 7,000 votes.

Brandon Maly, chair of the Republican Party of Dane County, said Trump also performed well on UW-Madison campus, roughly a 7% increase from four years ago.

"We saw increases across the UW infrastructure," Maly said. "And Madison, being the most heavily populated campus, a 7% increase is a very big deal."

Get-out-the-vote operations such as Turning Point Action and overall adding more infrastructure on college campuses are two key aspects behind Republicans' gains, Maly said.

Conservative Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point Action, was a central part of Trump's operation. He visited UW-Madison and spoke on a series of college campuses across the nation.

Democrats did see gains elsewhere, such as UW-Milwaukee and Marquette University and Eau Claire with Harris receiving more votes than President Joe Biden at student voting wards.

Chipping away at Democrats' advantage on college campuses and Dane County, a liberal stronghold, was a key aspect of Republicans' roadmap to victory.

The slight gains Trump made in Dane County was enough to deliver him Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes.

"Our motto has been if you want to win, you need to do better in Dane County," Maly said. "Now the focus is, pick up from what we have done here locally and continue to trend upwards."

In September, Trump campaigned in Dane County after Republican strategists urged him not to ignore the Democratic stronghold. It marked the first time since 1996 a Republican presidential candidate visited the county.

Joe Zepecki, a Democratic strategist, said there's no need to panic regarding turnout on college campuses or Dane County because "Harris still hit her targets." However, Zepecki added it was a challenge for Democrats to convince voters to trust them on issues such as the economy.

"The economic headwinds Kamala Harris was competing in were just too much to overcome," said Zepecki. "There were lots of places Harris did what we thought she had to do. Trump just found out where to boost turnout where he needed it."