On Saturday evening in downtown Milwaukee, people were making their way to dinner reservations and drinks with friends near Water Street, the city’s nightlife district.
But some of them had the U.S. election on their minds, as news of gunfire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania spread and visitors descended on Wisconsin’s largest city for the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday.
“We were actually walking down and talking about how we’re really scared about these elections,” said 26-year-old Milwaukee resident Laura Hernandez.
Hernandez, who listed abortion rights, immigration and Israel’s war in Gaza as her top voting priorities, said she was first eligible to vote for president in 2016 — but she’s never liked her options.
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“It’s been so exhausting. Every single year that I’ve been able to vote, I have to choose between two evils. And I feel like the same thing is happening this year, but even to a higher degree,” she said.
“So at the moment I’m indecisive. I’m not sure what I’m going to lean towards, come November.”
WATCH | Republican strategist expects shooting to shake up party convention:
Trump rally shooting expected to shake up Republican convention, strategist says
In the wake of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, Republican strategist Chip Felkel says it’s important the Trump campaign takes a measured and restrained tone as the Republican National Convention gets underway in Milwaukee. ‘In a weird, ugly way, this is of great benefit to the mobilization of Trump supporters,’ he says.
Wisconsin is one of the most critical battleground states in this year’s U.S. election. For three decades, the Midwestern state was a brick in the “Blue Wall” — a term for states that reliably went to the Democrats from the ’90s into the early 2010s.
That streak ended dramatically in 2016 when Donald Trump notched a shock win, helping him secure a marginal victory over Hillary Clinton. While President Joe Biden reclaimed Wisconsin during the 2020 election, his win was also remarkably slim: He won by less than one percentage point.
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In fact, the last six presidential elections have each been decided by a difference of some 25,000 votes in Wisconsin, which has 10 votes in the electoral college.
“There’s no reason to expect the state is moving away from that swing-state status and from a very close electorate,” said Charles Franklin, a political pollster and director of the Marquette Law School Poll.
With the next election looming, each campaign is placing its bets on Wisconsin, where small voting blocs and swing counties have the potential to sway what is now considered a “purple” state — one that could determine who will sit in the Oval Office come January 2025.
Laura Hernandez, 26, said that she was first old enough to vote for president in 2016 — but she’s never liked her options. (Jenna Benchetrit/CBC)
Why the stakes are high
Four years after the Democrats staged their convention in the city — albeit with in-person events curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — Milwaukee will host Republican party officials and delegates at its Fiserv Forum this week.
As the GOP works to wrestle the state back from the Democrats, the RNC’s setting is no coincidence, said Jonathan Kasparek, a political history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“It is very much to appeal to those sort of on-the-fence, independent voters that are perhaps reluctantly Republican,” he said. “It’s really [about] trying to court those votes.”
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Many of Wisconsin’s 72 counties have flipped allegiances during the past few presidential elections, ultimately changing the state’s political balance.
More than a third of them (23 in total) voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 — and they all flipped to Trump in 2016. Biden then won back two of those counties in 2020, securing the state for the Democrats.
In Milwaukee, voters who spoke with CBC News seemed to be reluctant about both of their options for this year. Josh Fager said that both Biden and Trump leave something to be desired.
“We need better candidates on both sides,” he told CBC News.
With the next U.S. presidential election looming, the Biden and Trump campaigns are both placing their bets on Wisconsin — a key swing state that could determine who will sit in the Oval Office come January 2025. (The Associated Press)
The urban, suburban and rural divide
Wisconsin has emerged as a purple state largely because “the dynamics set up between where the Republicans have strength and where the Democrats have strength [has] been shifting a lot in recent years,” said Kasparek.
Historically, Democrats have fared well in Wisconsin’s biggest cities, Madison and Milwaukee, while Republicans have done well in rural areas and suburban counties.
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But some of the latter are becoming “less solidly Republican,” he said.
Trump had strong victories among voters in rural counties in 2016 and 2020. However, in some suburban counties like Ozaukee, Republican voters turned out in softer numbers during those two elections than they had in previous years.
Meanwhile, low voter turnout in Milwaukee and Madison can have wider implications at the state level, according to Franklin, the pollster.
Some attribute Clinton’s 2016 loss in Wisconsin to her not having visited the state at all in the run-up to the election. Biden has visited Wisconsin five times since January to shore up support, paying particular attention to urban areas.
As Franklin put it: “Who’s going to win is not a question at all in Milwaukee. But will it provide the extra votes that help tip the state to the Democrats?”
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Brenda Hart-Richardson, 74, said she’ll vote for Biden no matter what. (Jenna Benchetrit/CBC)
Brenda Hart-Richardson, a 74-year-old lifelong Milwaukee resident, said she’s sticking with Biden all the way.
She said she was embarrassed by Democrats who have called for the president to step aside due to concerns over his health.
“I would never go on a camping trip with them,” she said. “If I twisted my ankle, they’d leave me behind.”
The fight for Black voters
Nationally, Black voters still favour Biden to Trump overall, according to an Ipsos poll from June. But fewer Black voters say they’re absolutely certain that they’ll vote in this election, which could spell trouble for the Democrats among one of their key bases.
Biden has been losing steam with young Black voters in particular, according to a separate Ipsos poll from May.
While 2020 census data shows that more than 80 per cent of Wisconsin’s population is white, Biden has sought to reach Black voters in a state where voting-rights advocates have long said that people of colour encounter more hurdles at the ballot box.
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Isaac Montgomery told CBC News that he didn’t vote in the last election and won’t vote in this one. (Jenna Benchetrit/CBC)
Madison resident Isaac Montgomery, who was visiting Milwaukee with friends on Saturday evening, told CBC News that he didn’t vote in the last election and won’t vote in this one.
That’s because neither candidate is a good option for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people, he said.
“People are always trying to use us as a trope. But they never really, at the end, do anything for us, so we’re always stuck in the same situation,” Montgomery said.
“Democratic, Republican, it doesn’t matter. Left, right, conservative, liberal. They’re all the same to me.”
Why turnout could be the deciding factor
Small voting blocs can make an outsized difference in a state with narrow margins, said Joe Paul, the executive director of Black Men Vote, a non-partisan organization that mobilizes Black male voters.
He pointed to the Black female vote in 2020, which helped tip the election in Biden’s favour.
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“You saw them literally tip the scale. We’re talking about precincts — like, the last election came down to precincts,” Paul told CBC News. “This election will absolutely come down to precincts.”
Kasparek, the professor, noted that groups hit hardest by the economic woes of the last several years “might be discontented enough” to switch from Biden to Trump in the hopes that the economy will be stronger under the latter.
While the U.S. economy has recovered and unemployment is low, Americans have been worn down by years of high inflation. Most voters say the economy is their No. 1 issue, according to a national survey conducted by the Marquette Law School Poll in May.
Other priorities diverge along party lines; Republican voters list immigration as a high priority while Democrat voters emphasize abortion as a key issue, according to the poll.
The poll surveyed 1,033 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-4.3 percentage points.
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“I think the most important factor is actually going to be turnout,” said Kasparek. “Whichever party does a better job of getting its voters to the polls is going to prevail.”
Manuel Franco claims his $768 million Powerball jackpot
Manuel Franco, 24, of West Allis was revealed Tuesday as the winner of the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot.
Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
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Here’s a look at July 15, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 15 drawing
02-07-18-29-38, Powerball: 16, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from July 15 drawing
Midday: 0-6-9
Evening: 8-6-6
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Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from July 15 drawing
Midday: 9-3-8-0
Evening: 4-5-2-7
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning All or Nothing numbers from July 15 drawing
Midday: 01-04-05-07-09-11-12-17-18-21-22
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Evening: 05-06-10-11-12-13-14-16-17-19-21
Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Badger 5 numbers from July 15 drawing
05-06-23-28-31
Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning SuperCash numbers from July 15 drawing
04-08-15-16-21-33, Doubler: N
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Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks numbers from July 15 drawing
10-19-25-31-37-40
Check Megabucks payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.
Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?
No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state’s open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner’s consent.
When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?
Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
That lucky feeling: Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
Feeling lucky? WI man wins $768 million Powerball jackpot **
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WI Lottery history: Top 10 Powerball and Mega Million jackpots
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.
(WLUK) — Northeast Wisconsin community groups that helped during historic spring flooding can now apply for relief.
Applications for the United Way Fox Cities and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region Flood Relief fund are now open.
The grants are available to local nonprofits and churches serving residents in Outagamie, Calumet, Shawano, Waupaca, and the Neenah/Menasha area of Winnebago counties who are engaging in relief efforts both short-term and long-term.
Grants are available to:
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501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations
Groups fiscally sponsored by a qualified 501(c)(3)
Churches and other public entities able to receive tax-deductible contributions
These grants are not available to private foundations, individuals or businesses directly, labor unions, or 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), or 501(c)(6) organizations.
The funding provided to these community organizations will help with housing and safe shelter, food, health and well-being, and financial assistance.
For individual homeowners and renters seeking relief, you can apply for FEMA assistance.
President Trump recently approved $22.6 million in federal aid for Northeast Wisconsin. The request made earlier this year asked for $27 million.
