BOW counties

Map of Wisconsin highlighting the BOW counties in red
Population centers of the BOW counties: from top, Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh bordering Lake Winnebago

The BOW counties (/baʊ/)[1] are three counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin: Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago.[2] The counties stretch from the western shore of Lake Winnebago down the Fox River to Green Bay. Cities in the BOW counties include Green Bay, De Pere, Appleton (part), Kaukauna (part), New London (part), Seymour, Neenah, Menasha (part), Omro, and Oshkosh. Also included is the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. The region overlaps with the Fox Cities but includes the more populous Brown County,[3] and not Calumet County.[4] The region also excludes the similarly sized Fond du Lac County as it is more solidly Republican and last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964.[5] The term has been in use since at least 2018,[6] but only started being used by mainstream sources in 2020.[7][3]

The area is one of the most purple (evenly divided) in the state,[8] and a key swing region.[9] These counties tend to be left-leaning compared to the more right-leaning WOW counties located near Milwaukee.[10] In the 2016 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Donald Trump received the most votes for president in the BOW counties but with smaller margins than the WOW counties.[10] Trump had 52% of the vote in Brown County, 54% in Outagamie County and just over 50% in Winnebago County.[10] However, in 2020 it was one of 21 regions in the country identified that had an impact on Joe Biden's victory.[11] In addition to presidential elections, the region is watched in other elections, such as races for United States Senate[12] and Wisconsin Supreme Court.[2]

Election history

[edit]

The presidential election results for the BOW counties for recent elections is as follows:

Total Democratic votes Democratic percentage Republican votes Republican percentage Third party votes
2020 Total 346,071 157,238 45.44% 182,052 52.61% 6,781
2020 Brown[13] 144,017 65,511 45.49% 75,871 52.68% 2,635
2020 Outagamie[13] 108,022 47,667 44.13% 58,385 54.05% 1,970
2020 Winnebago[13] 94,032 44,060 46.86% 47,796 50.83% 2,176
2016 Total 310,079 128,497 41.44% 160,534 51.77% 19,697
2016 Brown[14] 129,011 53,382 41.38% 67,210 52.10% 7,944
2016 Outagamie[14] 93,933 38,068 40.53% 49,879 53.10% 5,506
2016 Winnebago[14] 87,135 37,047 42.52% 43,445 49.86% 6,247
2012 Total 312,697 153,634 49.13% 154,330 49.35% 4,733
2012 Brown[15] 128,928 62,526 48.50% 64,836 50.29% 1,566
2012 Outagamie[15] 94,596 45,659 48.27% 47,372 50.08% 1,565
2012 Winnebago[15] 89,173 45,449 50.97% 42,122 47.24% 1,602
2008 Total 303,994 165,730 54.52% 133,477 43.91% 4,609
2008 Brown[16] 124,754 67,269 53.92% 55,854 44.77% 1,631
2008 Outagamie[16] 91,563 50,294 54.93% 39,677 43.33% 1,414
2008 Winnebago[16] 87,677 48,167 54.94% 37,946 43.28% 1,564
2004 Total 301,940 136,047 45.06% 162,618 53.86% 3,275
2004 Brown[17] 123,294 54,935 44.56% 67,173 54.48% 1,186
2004 Outagamie[17] 90,050 40,169 44.61% 48,903 54.31% 978
2004 Winnebago[17] 88,596 40,943 46.21% 46,542 52.53% 1,111
2000 Total 259,591 115,814 44.61% 132,048 50.87% 11,729
2000 Brown[18] 107,769 49,096 45.56% 54,258 50.35% 4,415
2000 Outagamie[18] 75,742 32,735 43.22% 39,460 52.10% 3,547
2000 Winnebago[18] 76,080 33,983 44.67% 38,330 50.38% 3,767
1996 Total
1996 Brown[19] 47.1% 42.5%
1996 Outagamie[19] 44.4% 42.8%
1996 Winnebago[19] 45.3% 42.7%

References

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  1. ^ Dairy Business Association (November 11, 2022). "Voters have spoken. What does that mean for the upcoming legislative session?". YouTube. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023. {{cite web}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b Denzin, Nathan (April 6, 2023). "Wisconsin's recent blue-red voting trends solidify in spring 2023 election". PBS Wisconsin. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023. She carried Brown and Outagamie counties by four and two points respectively, as well as Winnebago County, which leans more liberal than the other two "BOW counties".
  3. ^ a b Reilly, Briana (October 28, 2020). "This is What a Battleground Looks Like". The Capital Times. Madison, WI. p. 21. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2023. Four years ago, Trump carried the 15-county area by 18 percentage points, including wins in the three most populous counties there, which some refer to as the "BOW" counties. He won by 11 points in Brown, 13 points in Outagamie and 7 points in Winnebago
  4. ^ "Communities". Fox Cities. Fox Cities CVB. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Leip, Dave. "1964 Presidential General Election Results - Wisconsin". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  6. ^ moonraker717 (August 15, 2018). "Dem vs Gop County map from last nights election". Reddit. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023. but the key things are how close BOW (Brown, Outagamie, Winnebago) counties are (basically 50/50){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Gilbert, Craig (April 19, 2020). "Dems' dream election map will be hard to replicate". The Oshkosh Northwestern. pp. 1A, 3A, 4A. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Rodas, Jorge (August 20, 2020). "Wisconsin 'Bow' Counties Weigh In On DNC". Spectrum News 1. Green Bay, Wis. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  9. ^ Dempsey, Sadie; Suk, Jiyoun; Cramer, Katherine J.; Friedland, Lewis A.; Wagner, Michael W.; Shah, Dhavan V. (2020). Caughey, Devin; Hopkins, David (eds.). "Understanding Trump Supporters' News Use: Beyond the Fox News Bubble". The Forum. 18 (3): 324. doi:10.1515/for-2020-2012. ISSN 1540-8884. S2CID 231955817. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023. Gary lives in the Fox Valley, a region in northeast Wisconsin with a declining industrial sector and home to the BOW counties (Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago) which are considered a key political battleground region in the state.
  10. ^ a b c Yount, Benjamin (November 2, 2020). "WOW counties, BOW counties areas to watch on Election Day in Wisconsin". The Center Square. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  11. ^ Mahtesian, Charlie (November 8, 2020). "How Biden won his map". Politico. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  12. ^ Kirkwood, Chris. "Wisconsin Senatorial". Chris Kirkwood Maps. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023. Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties (the BOW Counties) sit along the Fox River in northeast Wisconsin, and frequently lean Republican. Senator Baldwin won all of them in her 2018 re-election, which indicated a massive win (10 or so points). Her 3 point margin in the BOW Counties came primarily from its larger cities, namely Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh
  13. ^ a b c "WEC Canvass Reporting System County by County Report 2020 General Election" (PDF). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "WEC Canvass Reporting System County by County Report 2016 General Election" (PDF). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 13, 2016. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  15. ^ a b c "2012 PRESIDENTIAL AND GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c "Wisconsin State Elections Board Canvass Summary Fall General Election – 11/04/200" (PDF). Wisconsin Historical Society. November 25, 2008. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c "Wisconsin State Elections Board Canvass Summary Fall General Election – 11/02/200". Wisconsin Historical Society. December 1, 2004. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  18. ^ a b c "2000-11-07_Presidential_County_Returns" (PDF). Wisconsin Historical Society. May 10, 2001. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Leip, David. "1996 Presidential General Election Data Graphs – Wisconsin". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2023.

44°15′N 88°27′W / 44.250°N 88.450°W / 44.250; -88.450

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