Washington Post: “For nearly a decade, Wisconsin was the center of the Republican Party’s universe. The 2010 election put Gov. Scott Walker in power, with a like-minded legislature eager to transform the state. Months after that victory, former Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus took over the Republican National Committee. Southeast Wisconsin Rep. Paul D. Ryan was nominated for the vice presidency, and lost it, but within three years he’d become speaker of the House — and just more than a year later, Wisconsin boosted Donald Trump into the White House.”

“With the exception of Trump, none of these Republicans still hold office. Priebus spent just seven months in the White House, Ryan retired in 2018 with Republicans on track to lose the House, and Walker was narrowly defeated in the governor’s race that year by Democrat Tony Evers. The Democrats swept Wisconsin’s statewide races but couldn’t crack a state legislative map that had been drawn to protect Republicans, an arrangement that has produced nearly two years of trench warfare on everything from voting rights to requiring Wisconsinites to wear masks. ‘The history of polling relative to election results in Wisconsin suggests that this election will be won or lost by a nose,” said Ben Wikler, who took over the state’s Democratic Party in 2019. ‘Democrats should run as though we’re three points behind and might be able to win at the very final moment if we do absolutely everything in our power.'”