MILWAUKEE — The Democratic primary fight will last more than two months, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said, pointing to a protracted, multi-candidate process.
The April 7 Wisconsin primary will be a crucial contest for White House candidates vying for the right to challenge President Trump in November 2020, the Democratic governor said Tuesday at Fiserv Forum, site of the party’s national nominating convention in July.
“I expect there will be many” candidates still in the race, said Evers, 68, who won the Wisconsin governorship in 2018 by defeating two-term Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
That scenario is most likely if different Democratic candidates split the first four nominating contests — the Iowa caucuses, on Monday, Feb. 3, the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Nevada caucuses, on Saturday, Feb. 22, and the South Carolina primary, on Saturday, Feb. 29.
Such a split would provide an opening for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to make a play on Super Tuesday, March 3, when more than a dozen states and entities vote. Bloomberg, 77, worth an estimated $54 billion, has already spent freely on campaign advertising and promises to do more if he is still fighting for the nomination.
A longer primary fight would have the potential to help build Democratic organizations in battleground states. But it would also leave the eventual Democratic nominee, assuming it isn’t Bloomberg or fellow billionaire Tom Steyer, short of campaign cash and facing a well-funded Trump reelection machine.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have accumulated nearly $200 million and together fielded a sprawling ground game in key 2020 states, with money still rolling in to support an expanding infrastructure. If the Democratic nominee, whoever he or she turns out to be, is embroiled in a crowded, bitter primary, it could significantly delay the campaign to oust Trump.
Wisconsin is already a premier battleground for both parties in the general election. The Republican National Committee and its Democratic counterpart have had employees and volunteers camped out in the state for months, with both sides acknowledging prospects for 2020 are touch-and-go.
“This is a key state. I truly believe Wisconsin will be the key state that elects a new president,” Evers said.
In 2016, Wisconsin was among a trio of states, with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that effectively decided the presidential race in Trump’s favor over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Electoral College math in 2020 makes Wisconsin even more important. Trump could afford to lose Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes and the 16 votes Michigan carries and still end up with the bare majority of 270 to claim a second term. But a loss of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes would be difficult to offset for the Trump team.
Democrats are playing catch-up in voter turnout, said convention CEO Joe Solmonese, noting the lowest participation levels in 20 years in 2016, when Clinton was the first Democratic nominee to lose Wisconsin since 1984.
“One of the errors we made was failing to communicate as effectively as we could in key states,” Solmonese said.
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said state residents are still getting used to being at the center of the political universe.
“We are not always seen as the largest player in the game,” said Barnes, also citing the Milwaukee Bucks’ 32-6 record, best in the NBA.
