Donald Trump‘s Saturday rally in Wisconsin underscores his campaign’s effort to strengthen his support among working-class and rural white voters in a crucial battleground state.
Since Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket over the summer, the former president has seen his support diminish across most demographic groups, reported Reuters.
Trump spoke in Mosinee, a town with around 4,500 residents near Wausau. This area is remote from Wisconsin’s major population centers, Milwaukee and Madison.
Marathon County, where Mosinee is located, was once a competitive region, voting for Barack Obama in 2008. However, it has shifted rightward, supporting Trump by approximately 18 points in both 2016 and 2020.
Nationally, Harris leads Trump by 13 percentage points among Hispanic voters, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll from August, up from Biden’s five-point lead in May. She has also increased her support among Black Americans, outperforming Biden by seven points. However, her impact on white voters has been minimal.
The same polls reveal that white voters without a college degree, a key part of Trump’s base, still prefer him by 25 points, compared to a 29-point margin in his race against Biden.
Trump’s relative strength among white voters is seen as a key advantage, with several of his advisers and allies recently telling Reuters that maintaining these margins will be critical for his potential victory over Harris.
This is particularly important in the northern “Rust Belt” states, including Wisconsin, which have large white and rural populations. Trump’s success in these areas was pivotal to his 2016 triumph over Hillary Clinton.
Biden secured the presidency in 2020 partly by regaining support from some of these voters for the Democratic Party. Although the Trump campaign is targeting Hispanic and Black male voters as crucial for Republican growth, much of Trump’s recent campaigning has focused on less diverse small cities and towns in the Rust Belt.
According to two Trump advisers, Trump’s running mate JD Vance is expected to intensify efforts in relatively rural Rust Belt areas in the final weeks leading up to the election.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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