Republican gains in metro Milwaukee

[Kevinstat]

Why are [Madison's] surbubs so heavily Democrat?

Probably because of the state employees who live in those suburbs.  If you are a paid (or contributing) member of this site you should check out Maine's city/town map.  Augusta is the city in Kennebec County on both sides of the Kennebec River.  Most of the surrounding towns gave pluralities for Gore in 2000.  Wisconsin is bigger than Maine and it's counties probably smaller, plus I get the sense Wisconsin has a large state bureaucracy (and there are likely many former state employees from the pre-Tommy Thompson era), so it's no surprise that Gore's capitol area edge would extend a few counties out.

Sincerely,

Kevin Lamoreau

[Kevinstat]

Then why are the capital cities of Missouri and Oregon so much more Republican than the rest of the state?

It could be that state employees and former state employees make up a smaller percentage of the population of Jefferson City and Salem then they do of Madison and Augusta.  It could also be that the civil service systems (including employee benefits) in those states is such that it is less likely to make state empolyees supportive of Presidential candidates like Al Gore.  The less different a state employee who lives in the state capitol's economic status is from someone doing similar work in the private sector of a city of comperable size, the more likely those people are to vote similarly in my opinion.

Sincerely,

Kevin Lamoreau