How this ‘red’ county picked up election wins with a little ‘blue’ research help

It’s not always clear which candidates in non-partisan races align with your values, but a little homework, according to Blue Sky Waukesha County, goes a long way.

State and national elections get a lot of negative attention, but at least voters have a better chance of knowing what the Democratic and Republican candidates stand for — unlike the spring nonpartisan races where you have to do some homework on candidates to vote your values. But that might change as group in Waukesha County shows the value of having that research.

Kristin Hansen told UpNorthNews she started Blue Sky Waukesha County after years of frustration over not knowing much about the candidates for school boards, county boards, and municipal governments like city councils, village boards, and town boards.

“I spent a lot of time digging around,” Hansen said, “reading these people’s websites, reading interviews, doing some research on them. So I started just telling people: ‘Here’s who I’m going to vote for. Here’s why.’ And in 2019, I thought this could be a community service.”

Hansen’s work caught on, and now she says a team of volunteers will sift through information on dozens of local candidates in order to make recommendations to blue-ish voters in an area not necessarily known as a hotbed of progressive politics. 

“We are going to recommend people who are not necessarily Democrats or even progressives,” Hansen said. “But if you’ve only got three conservatives to choose from, I’m going to find the Mitt Romney, right? We’ve got to find the people who are independent-minded, moderate Republicans, who will push back on a conspiracy theory MAGA agenda, given the opportunity.”

Because not every recommended candidate is progressive, Blue Sky Waukesha County has no affiliation to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. But its record is likely noticed in Madison. 

“In spring 2025, we recommended 74 candidates in 48 races who we thought would push back on a MAGA agenda; 46 won,” Hansen told members in a social media post. “That 62% win rate is much higher than the mere partisan breakdown in the county,” which she says is about 40% Democratic, 60% Republican.

Read more: 8 frequently asked questions about voting in Wisconsin

Hansen says her group’s information is well-received by voters who, after voting in better-known races like next April’s state Supreme Court election, might leave blank spaces further down their ballot for positions like school board.

“In Waukesha County and I’m sure a lot of counties [up north] everyone is a Republican,” Hansen said. “All of the people who are running are conservatives. So we delve into that and say, ‘alright, if all of the choices are conservative people, who’s the one who has some experience in project management, has some financial background, has some other experience that makes a difference? Is this person on the PTA? Do they have a background in education? Have they lived here? Are their kids in the district? You’d be shocked at how many people run for public school boards and they do not send their children to public schools or they don’t have kids. They did not themselves go to a public school. There’s an ulterior motive there.”

While Blue Sky Waukesha County is now an established 501c(4) charity with a budget to mail out postcards with recommendations, Hansen says anyone can get started with the basics in their hometown.

“The smallest, easiest thing you can do is pull up your own ballot on myvote.wi.gov and research every candidate,” Hansen said. “Start a Facebook page or put it on your own Facebook page, your own email list of your friends and say, ‘folks, I have researched all these candidates. Here’s who I’m going to vote for. Hope this is helpful.’ People appreciate the help.”