Wisconsin's electoral votes in U.S. presidential elections 1848-2020

Wisconsin has taken part in all U.S. presidential elections since 1848, awarding its electoral votes to the nationwide winner in 34 elections, giving a success rate of 77 percent. Wisconsin voted for the Democratic Party's nominee in 18 elections, and the Republican nominee in 25 elections. The only time where the Badger State did not vote for a major party nominee was in 1924, when it awarded its electoral votes to Wisconsin native Robert M. La Follette. No U.S. president or major party nominee was born in Wisconsin or considered it to be their home state.

Recent elections

Throughout most of its history, Wisconsin was generally regarded as a battleground state, with many elections in the state decided by less than one percent of the popular vote, including four of the six most recent elections. In 2016, Donald Trump defied all major polls relating to Wisconsin when he won the state by a 0.8 percent margin; his victory has been attributed to increased support for the Republican Party among white, working class voters, and the fact that he visited the state six times on the campaign trail while his opponent, Hillary Clinton, did not visit at all. In the 2020 election, however, Joe Biden managed to flip the state blue again, winning by just 20,000 votes (a 0.6 percent margin); the victory has been attributed to Biden's higher favorability among female voters, and increased turnout among black voters.

Electoral votes

Wisconsin's allocation of electoral votes grew gradually throughout the late nineteenth century, from four votes in 1848, to 13 votes in the early 1900s. Since the 1930s, however, Wisconsin's allocation of electoral votes has gradually fallen to ten, as electoral votes have been redistributed among southern and border states, which tend to have much faster-growing populations.