Democrats in Wisconsin’s Bluest County Want the Party to Make Inroads Everywhere Else

“[A]ll the eggs in the two-basket strategy eventually may not be successful,” the Dane County Democratic Party chair said.

Wisconsin polling place
Sabor became chair in 2019, and in that time, Democrats have won 80% of statewide races. Morry Gash/AP

MADISON, WI — Turnout in Dane County, Wisconsin, where the bright blue city of Madison sits, has repeatedly made Democrats competitive in one of the nation’s purplest states.

Now Dane County’s Democratic Party chair, Alexia Sabor, is trying to figure out if that success can be replicated in other parts of the state.

“Although the strategy of relying on landing in Dane and Milwaukee County has worked so far, all the eggs in the two-basket strategy eventually may not be successful,” she told NOTUS. If the party can expand success beyond that, “we’ve dampened potential for fluctuations.”