Harris underperforms recent Democrats in UW-Madison wards

Although Vice President Kamala Harris easily clutched a win against former President Donald Trump in Dane County, results from UW-Madison campus wards show that she underperformed with college students in comparison to past elections.

Harris only underperformed President Joe Biden’s 2020 run by 0.6% in all of Dane County, but she underperformed at UW-Madison wards by a considerably higher 7.2%. These wards swung to the right by a staggering 14 points overall. 

While Harris garnered 77.7% of the vote, Gov. Tony Evers captured 84.9% in 2022 and Biden received 84.9% in 2020. Compared to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, Harris also underperformed – but by a much smaller margin of 1.4%. 

This all comes after Harris visited the campus twice on the campaign trail, along with appearances from her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and former President Barack Obama. Harris’ most recent rally in Madison was held at the Alliant Energy Center less than a week before Election Day, with over 13,000 in attendance.

“The days ahead of us may be uncertain, but we will persist and build our country into the thriving nation we know it can be,” read a statement from the executive board of UW-Madison’s College Democrats. “There is a tremendous amount of work ahead and we hope our fellow UW students will join us in our organizing over these next few months.”

According to interviews conducted by UW student newspaper The Daily Cardinal, two main factors may have influenced Harris’ disappointing performance on campus: progressive students’ unease with the campaign’s stance on Middle East issues, and a large sector of young men who have a favorable view of Trump.

Of the three “blue wall” states (Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania), Wisconsin’s race was far and away the closest – with a margin of only 30,000 votes.  It was also the only one of the three where Harris garnered more votes than Biden in 2020.

Matthew Lehner, chair of Wisconsin College Democrats, urged students to prepare for the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1 of next year. He also celebrated Tammy Baldwin’s re-election to the US Senate, which will mark her third consecutive term. 

“We have been through tough times before, and as long as we stick together and don’t give up, we will get through them again,” wrote Lehner in a statement. “May we renew, heal, and keep fighting the good fight.