What issues to swing state voters in Wisconsin? A single street gives a glimpse : NPR

On a latest Tuesday morning, a workforce from NPR’s All Issues Thought of and member station WUWM launched into a journey alongside certainly one of Milwaukee’s most various streets: North Avenue.

This 15-mile street runs east to west, beginning close to Lake Michigan and stretching all the way in which into the suburbs. It cuts via each sort of neighborhood: city, suburban, wealthy, poor, racially segregated and racially various.

There’s a cause we selected this spot. Wisconsin is a state of 6 million folks the place the presidential vote has commonly been determined by a margin of 20,000 voters. That’s lower than 1%.

And it’s not only one demographic group or bloc that may make the distinction in 2024 — it’s all of them. So we spoke with voters of many political persuasions about what’s essential to them this election season.

As a result of as folks right here prefer to say: As goes North Avenue, so goes Wisconsin.

Cease 1: Bradford Seaside

We started our journey of North Avenue on the banks of Lake Michigan, the place a handful of runners had been braving the rain and meeting earlier than the solar had even risen.

The group doesn’t usually speak about politics. However on at the present time, Hans Goldenberg, 34, was completely satisfied to share his ideas.

“I may or may not vote. I don’t like either candidate to be completely honest,” he stated.

Goldenberg thinks Republicans would do a greater job addressing what he feels are excessive taxes and crime, however he’s additionally socially liberal and wrestles with that.

“I’ve gone both ways in the past … I feel like sometimes my vote doesn’t matter,” he stated.

Jackie Breen, 32, jumps in. Breen stated she’s a dedicated Harris voter, however she will get why Goldenberg is pissed off.

“I have felt for many, many elections for a very long time, like, who am I voting for? I don’t want either,” she stated. “Where’s someone who is actually closer to my age, who understands that my generation is going to have debt for the rest of their lives?”

Cease 2: Beans and Barley

Our subsequent cease alongside North Avenue is Beans & Barley — a deli, reward store and restaurant rolled into one.

Jim Neumeyer, 44, started working right here as a dishwasher when he was a teen and now he owns the place, which he described as “kind of like a hippie Cracker Barrel.”

Neumeyer is a staunch Democrat and has a Harris sign up his workplace, however there are not any different political indicators simply seen to prospects. He desires everybody to really feel welcome.

As a small enterprise proprietor, one of many greatest challenges Neumeyer faces is the value of elements. He stated a few of his prices have gone up 20%.

“We’re not like a super duper fancy restaurant. We’re like an everyday restaurant. And in order to be a place that people in the community can gather daily, we have to keep it really reasonable,” he stated.

So in relation to politics, Neumeyer desires somebody who’s eager about small companies.

“Not necessarily tax breaks for only the largest of businesses,” Neumeyer stated. “We also need to see some relief from the prices and hopefully see some of them be able to come down.”

Behind the scenes within the bakery, Rayna Hartmann, 20, is making a vegan almond apricot cake. She’s a scholar on the College of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the place she joined protests towards the struggle in Gaza.

“A lot of the way our money is allocated feels very surreal sometimes, especially being a student,” she stated. “Seeing more money going to the military than it does education and schools.”

That is the primary time she’s sufficiently old to vote for president, however she has already wielded her energy. Within the Democratic major this yr, she was certainly one of virtually 50,000 folks in Wisconsin to vote “uninstructed,” the state’s model of an “uncommitted” vote protesting the struggle in Gaza.

“Obviously I don’t want to vote for Trump,” she stated. “And it’s kind of tough, the next best choice being Kamala. It’s like, OK yes she’d be our first Black woman president, [but] it’s hard to improve a system that is inherently just broken.”

She nonetheless doesn’t know whether or not she’ll vote and for whom, and added that lots of her school classmates really feel the identical.

Cease 3: The Milwaukee Instances

Harold Turner, 82, is a pastor and proprietor of the Milwaukee Instances, a weekly newspaper printed within the traditionally Black neighborhood of Bronzeville.

Turner stated he’ll vote for Harris in November.

“I do believe that Kamala … is going to be the next commander in chief,” he stated.

On the nook of this block, Turner has a neighbor that stands out: the Wisconsin GOP discipline workplace. The home windows are plastered with political indicators and posters for Trump. When our workforce stopped by, the lights had been on however the door was locked.

Cease 4: Invoice the Butcher

A few miles additional west alongside North Avenue, we arrive in Metcalf Park, the place Invoice the Butcher is an establishment.

Proprietor Latoya James, 45, says the nook retailer and butcher store has been round for greater than 50 years. She took over three years in the past and remembers procuring right here along with her household when she was a child.

When eager about the election, James is torn. She voted for Hillary Clinton after which Joe Biden within the final two elections, however this time, she is perhaps leaning in direction of Trump.

“[Trump] makes good points,” she stated. However then, so does Kamala, she added. “Trump is kind of firm. He says what he means.”

Invoice the Butcher isn’t a spot folks speak about politics, James stated. Buyer Lekeisha Ashford agreed. She will’t anticipate the marketing campaign to be over.

Ashford’s high points are the value of hire and meals. She’ll be voting for Harris.

Cease 5: Little Village Play Cafe

Nestled on a busy block within the suburb of Wauwatosa we discovered The Little Village Play Cafe, a espresso store and indoor play house.

Among the many mother and father on this cafe had been Leah Bomber, a labor and supply nurse, and her husband Chris.

Leah Bomber stated this election was actually essential for them as a result of that they had their 14-month-old son Jude by way of IVF.

“It really affects every aspect of my life right now,” she stated.

“I hate that so much of our life is in the balance as well,” Chris Bomber added. “We have eggs in the freezer. … If Trump gets elected, there’s a very good chance that legislation goes into effect that makes our situation illegal.”

One other mother or father, Duane Tomka, voted for Trump in 2016 and sat the election out in 2020.

This time, he’s leaning Republican however can’t commit simply but.

“[Trump is] abrasive, which I think that shoots him in the foot a lot of times,” Tomka stated. “Honestly, I think lots of people like me don’t want to say what they feel, that they may vote for Trump.”

Whereas the massive metropolis [and its neighboring city, Wauwatosa] is closely Democratic, as North Avenue continues out into the suburbs west of Milwaukee, Trump garden indicators begin to seem and the voting patterns shift from blue to pink.

Cease 6: Ruby Commons

The final cease on our journey is in suburban Brookfield, positioned in Waukesha County — a base for Republican help, which went for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

Brookfield now’s a battleground metropolis inside a battleground county inside a battleground state.

On the Ruby Commons retirement group, completely satisfied hour begins at 2 p.m. so the residents can begin dinner at 4 p.m. At a sport of bingo, Joanne Carstens, 94, stated she avoids speaking politics with different residents, however she thinks about it so much.

“I’m very concerned about the election,” she stated, including that “open borders” and “lack of police support” are among the many most important causes.

“I’m worried that Trump will not win,” Carstens stated.

Phyllis Glandt, 81, one other resident and bingo participant, feels the other.

“How can a convicted felon run for office? I don’t understand that one,” she stated.

Glandt was as soon as a Republican, however switched to supporting Democrats greater than 60 years in the past over the problem of abortion rights.

“That disturbed me so much because these young kids that might end up pregnant could have to carry a baby to term. I just think that’s awful, if they don’t want to,” she stated.

In one of many Ruby Commons residences, we discovered Louise Fogelstrom watching Fox Information with David, her husband of 63 years. The couple, of their 80s, are usually not followers of Harris.

“Well, she lies,” Louise Fogelstrom stated. “If she came into this house I’d say get your butt out, I don’t wanna see you.”

David Fogelstrom stated he’s a Trump supporter as a result of they each got here from related industries.

“He was a developer and so forth and I was in the building products industry,” he stated. “I think he’s just a regular guy … what you see is what you get.”

Our closing interview on this journey was with Josseline Clark, 30, a way of life enrichment coordinator at Ruby Commons, who stated that her views had been her personal and he or she wasn’t talking on behalf of her employer.

Clark is celebrating a giant second.

“I am very enthusiastic because this year is the year I became an American citizen,” she stated.

Her household is from Honduras and he or she moved to the US eight years in the past.

“For me, being able to live in this time where I can vote for the first time and vote for the first female president is super exciting,” she stated, including that her views had been her personal and he or she wasn’t talking on behalf of her employer. “And it just means a lot because there’s a lot of my family that have been here and they have never been able to vote.”

Clark not too long ago voted in her state’s major. She saved the “I Voted” sticker and positioned it in the identical field containing her citizenship papers.

“It just felt great,” she stated. “Because now you feel like you have a voice and you belong somewhere.”

Ashley Brown and Padma Rama contributed to this report.