In the GOP bastion of Waukesha County, the Walker vote represented about 27% of all voting-age adults in the county (79,049 people).
In the Democratic bastion of Dane County, the Democratic vote represented about 28% of all voting-age adults in the county (105,437).
In effect, Republican Waukesha matched Democratic Dane’s turnout rate despite the fact that the GOP primary was meaningless. In terms of total turnout (Republican and Democratic primaries combined) Ozaukee was No. 1 in the state Tuesday, with 39.4% of voting-age adults going to the polls (based on 2010 population), followed by Waukesha at 38.8%. (Dane was seventh at 36.3%.) The Walker turnout phenomenon in the juggernaut GOP “WOW” counties (Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington) is to many Democrats the single most daunting obstacle to defeating the incumbent governor.
“That group is extremely mobilized,” Robert Kraig of the liberal advocacy group Citizen Action of Wisconsin said in interview hours before the polls closed Tuesday. “They’re every bit as passionate as Walker opponents. It’s overwhelming (in those suburban counties) … It means that we need top mobilization just to match it … We need to perform at a top level across every constituency, because they’re going to.”
Total Democratic primary votes = 670,208
Total Walker primary votes + Art = 646,458
We might assume those Republicans who voted for Arthur Kohl-Riggs will not be voting for Walker. But Riggs did force Republican voters out to the polls. Still, not everyone who signed a petition turned out. It's going to be close.
From the Brookfield Patch: "Despite no real Republican contest on the ballot, 47 percent of voters in GOP stronghold hit the polls." How many turned out in Dane County hasn't been determined.
Don't fret the level of Democratic voting. They didn't care about the primary, indicating that anyone running is fine. They will care about the general election.
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