Voters who spoke to Fox News Digital from Waukesha County, Wisconsin, emphasized the economy's outside role in the 2024 election next month, citing the struggles felt by Wisconsinites across the state.
“I just know it was so much better when Trump was president,” retired teacher Sharon Kaufman told Fox News Digital.
He explained that he considered his family's performance under both the Trump-Pence administration and the Biden-Harris administration and analyzed “all of our investments, lives and accounts” before reaching this conclusion.
Tim Moss, who works for an alcohol distributor, explained: “Another big thing about the economy and itself is that young people (and) older people are all pushing.”
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Voters in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, explain why they support former President Donald Trump in 2024. (Reuters)
“I think we’ll at least be able to buy groceries” under Trump, Moss predicted.
“Gasoline prices have improved a lot. Food prices have dropped a lot,” said forklift operator Diana Altwiese. “I went to the store the other day, barely bought anything and came home with maybe two bags of stuff and it was over $50.”
According to retiree Sue Matuszak, she couldn't imagine families – like her six oldest children – being able to raise their own children in today's economy. “I don’t know how families do it now,” she said.
Matuszak's retired husband insisted that Trump is “a businessman” and “that's what we need in government.”
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Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are each competing to win the swing state of Wisconsin, which has gone Democratic and Republican in the last two elections. (Reuters/iStock)
Altwiss described Trump, whom he supported in 2016 and 2020, commenting, “He has a little bit of a mouth, but he tells it like it is.”
For him, this proves that Trump is not afraid to speak his mind and shows that he is not afraid to face anyone.
“Orange, she just looks all smiles and they really didn't do anything they claimed,” he said.
Some of the other issues that motivated these voters to support Trump were security, foreign policy, immigration and abortion.
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Former President Donald Trump held a rally in the traditionally blue enclave of Dane County, Wisconsin. (Getty Images)
“I don’t like seeing babies wasted every year,” Matuszak said, adding that abortion was an important issue for her.
On the other hand, Kaufman explained, “I really believe it should be up to the woman and let her decide what she needs to do. It’s a difficult decision no matter what.”
Despite ads and messages from Democrats claiming that Trump would introduce federal bans on abortion, Kaufman said he does not believe such claims.
Matuszak also took aim at immigration, telling Fox News Digital, “I’m very disappointed in the open borders that we have.”
“I think if this doesn’t stop, I think our country is really getting worse,” he added.
No one Fox News Digital spoke to in Waukesha County said they supported the Harris-Walz ticket.
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Americans voted at the Olbricht Botanical Garden polling station on November 8, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Voters described Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, seeing frequent signage throughout Waukesha County, which they said was the same in 2016 and 2020.
They also said they saw few signs of Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., campaigning.
Fox News Digital observed a general flurry of signs in the county, most appearing to support Trump-Vance and other Republicans. However, the Harris-Walz sign was clustered in downtown Waukesha, a college town.
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Waukesha County is ranked as one of the top 15 battleground counties to visit nationwide by US News & World Report. Suburban Milwaukee County has built this reputation due to its transformation over the past decade. While Republicans have an overall advantage, their lead in the county has diminished in the Trump era.
The movement in Waukesha County followed a trend away from Republicans politically that other wealthy suburbs have also experienced.
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