The area is one of the most purple (evenly divided) in the state,[8] and a key swing region.[9] These counties tend to be left-leaning compared to the more right-leaning WOW counties located near Milwaukee.[10] In the 2016 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Donald Trump received the most votes for president in the BOW counties but with smaller margins than the WOW counties.[10] Trump had 52% of the vote in Brown County, 54% in Outagamie County and just over 50% in Winnebago County.[10] However, in 2020 it was one of 21 regions in the country identified that had an impact on Joe Biden's victory.[11] In addition to presidential elections, the region is watched in other elections, such as races for United States Senate[12] and Wisconsin Supreme Court.[2]
Election history
The presidential election results for the BOW counties for recent elections is as follows:
^ abDenzin, Nathan (April 6, 2023). "Wisconsin's recent blue-red voting trends solidify in spring 2023 election". PBS Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023. She carried Brown and Outagamie counties by four and two points respectively, as well as Winnebago County, which leans more liberal than the other two "BOW counties".
^ abReilly, Briana (October 28, 2020). "This is What a Battleground Looks Like". The Capital Times. Madison, WI. p. 21. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2023. Four years ago, Trump carried the 15-county area by 18 percentage points, including wins in the three most populous counties there, which some refer to as the "BOW" counties. He won by 11 points in Brown, 13 points in Outagamie and 7 points in Winnebago
^"Communities". Fox Cities. Fox Cities CVB. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
^moonraker717 (15 August 2018). "Dem vs Gop County map from last nights election". Reddit. Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023. but the key things are how close BOW (Brown, Outagamie, Winnebago) counties are (basically 50/50)((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Dempsey, Sadie; Suk, Jiyoun; Cramer, Katherine J.; Friedland, Lewis A.; Wagner, Michael W.; Shah, Dhavan V. (2020). Caughey, Devin; Hopkins, David (eds.). "Understanding Trump Supporters' News Use: Beyond the Fox News Bubble". The Forum. 18 (3): 324. doi:10.1515/for-2020-2012. ISSN1540-8884. S2CID231955817. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023. Gary lives in the Fox Valley, a region in northeast Wisconsin with a declining industrial sector and home to the BOW counties (Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago) which are considered a key political battleground region in the state.
^Mahtesian, Charlie (8 November 2020). "How Biden won his map". Politico. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
^Kirkwood, Chris. "Wisconsin Senatorial". Chris Kirkwood Maps. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023. Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties (the BOW Counties) sit along the Fox River in northeast Wisconsin, and frequently lean Republican. Senator Baldwin won all of them in her 2018 re-election, which indicated a massive win (10 or so points). Her 3 point margin in the BOW Counties came primarily from its larger cities, namely Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh