A swing county within a swing state: Sauk County

SAUK COUNTY, Wis. -- Sauk County is painted purple.

Voters in the rural area just north of Madison have voted for the eventual winning candidate in the presidential race for the last four elections, landing on Barack Obama both in 2008 and 2012, swaying to Donald Trump in 2016 and most recently, Joe Biden in 2020.

Wisconsin as a state has the same record.

"The way Sauk County goes, so goes the state, and typically, so goes the country," said Jerry Helmer, Chairman of the Republican Party of Sauk County.

Helmer calls the county a "bellwether", often indicating where the rest of the swing state will fall.

"We're rural, but we voted for three democrats out of the last four elections," said Chair of the Democratic Party of Sauk County Susan Knower. "So maybe our demographics are changing a little bit."

Knower and Helmer agree that the county has trended blue in recent decades.

"Because of Dane County's cost of living, a lot of people have migrated to the rural counties," said Helmer.

The combination of longtime rural republicans and democrats commuting from the city bring opposing demographics into one municipality.

This November, the county's vote this year may be more telling than ever.

"There are a lot of people that don't vote, they don't care. They don't pay attention," said Helmer. "What has happened with all of the events lately? We're going to see these people voting."

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