If Wisconsin is a state that is highly polarized, then why was there a 10% difference in the 2018 Senate vs Governor elections? Why is Wisconsin prone to big swings such as 2008 --> 2012 or 2012 --> 2016. On the county level, the swings between elections are even more extremes; rural's and suburban counties have shifted over 20% between election cycles. The more accurate answer to Wisconsin's ideologically distant senators is not that it's a "turnout game", it's that voters don't vote strictly on ideological lines and are willing to consider other factors. In addition, they were both elected during different years.
Wisconsin is actually one of the more elastic and least polarized states.
Wisconsin being polarized, being a turnout game, etc. is an odd Atlas trope. I think it’s development was: Johnson and Baldwin are polarized -> therefore Wisconsin must be polarized -> therefore Johnson and Baldwin are polarized because Wisconsin is polarized.
Wisconsin is a high turnout, elastic state. It’s not like the Deep South where there are few persuadable voters and it is really about differential turnout. People in Wisconsin are voting anyway, it’s just that they’re open to voting for both parties as long as the candidate is personally appealing.
