Pollster Dan Cox said on Thursday that midterm races in the upper midwestern states are ones to keep an eye on in November.
“There’s a region that I’m particularly interested in, which is sort of the Great Lakes region, where we saw a lot of working-class voters switch from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016, and seeing if they come out, and if they do, do they support Democratic candidates. There’s a whole bunch of competitive seats out there,” Cox told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
“That region will be incredibly important,” he added.
Among the races taking place in the region is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) reelection bid where he is slated to face off against Democrat Tony Evers.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is also running for re-election in the state against Republican Leah Vukmir.
Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) seat is up for grabs as well. His retirement from Congress has sparked hope among Democrats of picking up the seat.
In Michigan, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is facing off against the state’s Attorney General Bill Schuette for outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) seat.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who was appointed to the Senate last year to replace former Sen. Al Franken (D) will defend her seat in a special election, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) seeks a third term.
The upper Midwest was thought to be a “blue wall” for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election. However, President Trump was able to win Michigan and Wisconsin, and came within roughly 2 points of taking Minnesota.
— Julia Manchester
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