Political polarization in Wisconsin has become so intense that it is practically two different states, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) said.
Appearing alongside a friend from across the aisle, former Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D), Thompson lamented the severe partisan turn politics has taken over recent years and attributed some of the blame to redistricting.
“It has become so partisan and so divided that I would have to say it’s almost two states,” Thompson told Meet the Press in the interview that aired Sunday.
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Thompson underscored that bipartisan kinship, such as the one he shares with Doyle, would be difficult in today’s climate.
Tommy Thompson
“[We] are friends, but I would never, in modern-day politics, I would not want to debate him. I wouldn’t want to talk to him because I’m afraid somebody from my right would run against me. Jim would feel the same way,” he added.
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Thompson, who served as governor from 1987 to 2001, won a third term in office by over 35 percentage points in 1994, despite President Bill Clinton winning the state two years prior. Doyle, who served from 2003 to 2011, ascended to governor in the early 2000s by a tighter margin, but he managed to win a slew of rural counties that would likely be out of reach to many Democrats.
“You look at the demographics for the state and the big divisions that have happened in the country, rural and small town against cities; big, expanding economies like Madison against rural economies that are struggling,” he told host Chuck Todd.
“It’s just in Wisconsin when you add those up, [and] it’s a 50-50 state,” he continued.
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Wisconsin is considered one of the key battleground states in the country due to its propensity to swing between Republicans and Democrats. It went for President Donald Trump in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020. The Badger State has a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled state legislature.
The state is also home to one of the hottest Senate races of the midterm election cycle between incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Democrat Mandela Barnes.
