Trump heads to Wisconsin's critical Democratic stronghold ahead of vice presidential debate

WAUNAKEE, Wis. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump plans to spend the hours ahead of Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate campaigning in Wisconsin, stopping in a critical Democratic county that is crucial to Democrat Kamala Harris ' hopes for winning the key battleground state.

Trump is scheduled to appear at a manufacturing facility in Waunakee, a suburb of Wisconsin's capital city of Madison in the Democratic stronghold of Dane County. Trump has never campaigned in Dane County before and didn't visit as president.

Later on Tuesday, Trump is expected to hold an event at a museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city and home to the largest number of Democratic voters and second-largest number of Republicans. His appearance there will also give him reach into the city's conservative suburbs, a part of Wisconsin where his support has softened but where he must do well to win.

Trump is expected to focus his comments on the economy. On Saturday, he held a rally in western Wisconsin where he blamed Harris for crimes committed by people in the country illegally.

Both stops come ahead of Tuesday's debate between Trump’s running mate JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota.

Dane County, the location of Trump's first stop, is Wisconsin's fastest-growing county and an economic engine for the state, fueled by jobs in the healthcare and tech industries. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin.

Dane County’s population grew by about 30,000 people between 2016 and 2020. It has gone up by another 13,000 since then, based on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate.

That presents a challenge for Republicans, especially given that nearly 90% of registered voters in the county cast a ballot in 2020. President Joe Biden won 75% of the vote that year in Dane County, beating Trump by 181,000 votes in the county while carrying the state by fewer than 21,000. Hillary Clinton beat Trump in Dane County in 2016 by 47 points, and Trump won the state by less than a point.

Still, Dane County is home to the third-largest number of Republican voters of any county statewide.

“President Trump’s appearance will be a big shot in the arm for demoralized conservatives here,” the Dane County Republican Party Chairman Brandon Maly posted on X, the social media platform, when the visit was announced. He has said Trump must get at least 23% of the vote in Dane County to have a chance of winning statewide.

Democratic presidential candidates have long come to Dane County to hold massive rallies to fire up the base. Harris campaigned there on Sept. 20, holding a rally in Madison that attracted more than 10,000 people.

Waunakee, which bills itself as the “only Waunakee in the world,” is slightly more Republican than the county as a whole. In 2020, Trump got 36% of the vote there compared to less than 23% countywide.

Trump is expected to speak at Dane Manufacturing, a metal fabricator that has a long history of hosting Republican candidates and officeholders. In Milwaukee, Trump will speak at Discovery World, a science and technology museum along the shores of Lake Michigan.