Democratic voters just won a 10-point landslide in a state that President Donald Trump won last year. How?

The answer is a defining trend of modern elections: There are two different kinds of electorates who come out to vote in the Trump era.

On Tuesday night, the liberal, Democrat-aligned Judge Susan Crawford defeated her Republican-backed opponent by nearly 300,000 votes — a 10-point margin — less than a year after Trump carried the state on his way to a battleground sweep.

She achieved that victory as more than 2.3 million people turned out to vote, about two-thirds of last year’s electorate. That’s significantly more than the last time a high-profile court seat was up for grabs and nearly matches the level of turnout in the 2022 midterms.

Crawford’s victory has been cast as symbolic for many reasons. It’s both a referendum on the months-old Trump administration and on Elon Musk for his involvement and spending in the race. It was a test of liberal organizing and Democratic enthusiasm ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as the party’s base demands their leaders do more and they look for ways to resist Trump.

But Wisconsin’s weird voting dynamics in the Trump era, combined with other national special and off-year elections, also demonstrate the role Trump has played in scrambling electoral coalitions and see-sawing the balance of power both in Washington and in the states.

Two different electorates, polarized by education, class, and political engagement, have emerged — one which benefits Democrats broadly, another which benefits solely Trump himself.

Wisconsin’s recent see-sawing

Wisconsin in the age of Trump has been a curious place to watch. As a battleground for presidential and........

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