Door County’s role in American elections has captured the national spotlight unlike any other. Out of the 513 counties scattered across the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, only one — our very own Door County — has consistently voted for the eventual winner in every presidential election this century. This remarkable feat is what recently brought a team from CBS’s iconic news program, 60 Minutes, to our peninsula.
CBS correspondent Jon Wertheim and producer Draggan Mihailovich visited the Rotary Club of Sturgeon Bay, of which I’m a member, to share insights into their investigation and to ask questions of us. They acknowledged that our streak actually began even before the turn of the century, with Door County correctly predicting the winner in Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign. But as Mihailovich candidly admitted, it just sounds better to say that Door County has called it right “in every presidential election this century.”
In fact, our remarkable streak stretches back nearly half a century, with only one hiccup during the 1992 election. That year the political landscape was anything but typical. Ross Perot, the third-party candidate, siphoned off over 25% of Door County’s vote, preventing either George H.W. Bush or Bill Clinton from capturing even 40% overall. That was the lone exception in an otherwise unbroken record since 1980.
Mihailovich shared that when he initially posed questions to political scientists about Door County’s streak, many chalked it up to mere statistical noise. What convinced them Door County was special was the 2022 midterm. Door County’s voters simultaneously re-elected Republican Senator Ron Johnson and Democratic Governor Tony Evers. That dual outcome reflected a rare balance, a refusal to be tethered to a single political ideology.
As the reporters asked us about our community’s political character, I found myself curious about how we compared to other places. I asked Mihailovich whether political yard signs are more common here than elsewhere? He said that indeed yard signs are significantly more prevalent in Door County.
Putting up a yard sign isn’t a passive act. It’s a bold statement, even a provocative one, made with the full awareness that it might offend your neighbors. That is not the behavior of a disengaged electorate.
It made me wonder aloud, this level of engagement suggests that Door County is, at its core, the very epitome of a divided community. Yet while there may be signs of tension, I still firmly believe that what unites us is far more powerful than what divides us. Mihailovich responded that his entire crew was surprised by how accepting we residents of Door County are of our neighbors whose political opinions differ from our own.
As Wertheim described Door County during the 60 Minutes broadcast, “In this divisive election season, we came to America’s ultimate battleground, except there was no battle.”
It’s a sentiment that resonates deeply with me, especially as we stand on the precipice of another presidential election. Yes, the stakes are high, and the outcome will have lasting consequences, just as it always does with every presidential election. Regardless of who wins, we must all remember that we share far more in common than the pundits and politicians would have us believe. The real strength of Door County lies not in our skill in predicting presidential outcomes, but in our ability to maintain a community spirit that values human relationships over political rivalries.
Wertheim summarized Door County during the broadcast in a most beautiful way.
“In our quest, maybe we stumbled across something even more rare. We found a place in America where family and community outrank party loyalty.”
It’s a truth that many communities aspire to, but one that we in Door County have embraced with far greater success. In Door County, most of us believe not only in our own sense of decency, but also in the fundamental decency of people with whom we disagree. More than anything, that is what makes us unique.
Yet this spirit isn’t guaranteed. The divisiveness that has plagued so much of our country could easily take root here if we let our guard down. When this election is over, one side will win, and the other will lose. But if we allow political divisions to define us, we all lose something far greater — the spirit of community that has made Door County so special. It’s up to each of us to keep nurturing the ties that bind us, regardless of what happens at the ballot box.
This column originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse on October 30, 2024.
Bicoy Philanthropic Advisors 