Crazy Uncle Charlie's 18th Senate District Statistics

Here's a tweet from Milwaukee's very own twit, Crazy Uncle Charlie Sykes. DOOM! GLOOM! DESPAIR! Democrats might as well pack it in for this November.

I love how he fails to even look at the district boundaries or even dig a little deeper into how the elections between Hopper and King broke down in 2008 and 2011:

Courtesy of Ballotpedia.org
2008:

Wisconsin State Senate, District 18 (2008)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Randy Hopper (R)		41,904	50.05%
Jessica King (D)		41,741	49.86%

2011:

August 9 Recall - District 18[19]
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Jessica King (D)		28,191	51.1%
Randy Hopper (R)		26,937	48.83%
Scattering		42	.08%

So, where did that large 68,000 Republican vote total come from? Oh, silly me, maybe we should look at a map of the 18th Senate District:

WOW! Look at ALL that Winnebago and Fond du Lac County territory!!!! I'm stunned! Errrrr, wait, umm, not so much.

The blue area is the 53rd Assembly District, and the Green the 52nd, and Pink the 54th. Ohhh, wait, 54th, that's Gordon Hintz's district. Right, cause he's such a Neo-Stalwart? Not so much.

Now, some of this could (will) change if (when) the new maps go into effect, but the 18th was left relatively intact with the way it votes. If we actually break down this district over the last few years, we can see that it's hardly the conservative bastion that Crazy Uncle Charlie wants is Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha zombies to believe.

I live in Fond du Lac... I know this area. Byron, Empire, and Taycheedah are "ring" townships around the City of Fond du Lac, and they are conservative. But North Fond du Lac is a blue collar and working class railroad city and leans more Democratic. Same can be said for the city of Waupun and it's anchor industry of Incarceration. Oshkosh and Winnebago County did turn out for Governor Walker, but for them to throw their hometown Senator King out after being elected to the city council? I give them a little more credit than that.

So you know what, who gives a flip about what ALL of Fond du Lac County and ALL of Winnebago County voted like. If you look at the "new" maps, there is a reason Sen. Grothamann's district will loop around and pick up the townships on the east shore of Lake Winnebago... it's to keep it conservative. Same with the eastern most townships who aren't in the 18th SD.

Democrats, we don't have a cake-walk here, not by a long shot. But if the numbers that this district has produced in the past are any indication... we can and we HAVE won this district!