Democrats Target Rural Midwest Seats as Diesel Tops $6 and Farm Costs Surge
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Oct 28
Democrats Target Rural Midwest Seats as Diesel Tops $6 and Farm Costs Surge
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Oct 28
Summary
Western Wisconsin has become a razor-edge test of whether Democrats can retake rural Midwest House districts after years of losses, with Rebecca Cooke trying to unseat Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
Diesel above $6 a gallon, fertilizer costs up more than 30% since the Iran war began, and tariff pain hitting family farms are driving the party's pitch that Trump-era policies are hurting local voters.
The effort stretches from western Wisconsin to southern Minnesota and eastern Iowa, where Democrats say economic hardship may loosen the GOP grip even though their brand remains deeply toxic in many rural communities.
A favorable midterm climate helps Democrats, but organizers say the region's tiny margins leave almost no room for error in districts reshaped by a decade of Trump's populism and culture-war politics.