When Barack Obama visits La Crosse on Wednesday he will campaign in a part of Wisconsin that has narrowly gone for Democratic presidential candidates in each of the past two elections.
Based on the 2000 Census about 216,000 voting-age people live in the eight counties that border the Mississippi River between Dubuque, Iowa, and the Twin Cities. Counting the three adjacent counties to the east that are reliably Democratic, the number rises to 332,000.
That is about 8 percent of the state’s voting-age population.
Democrats have won a majority of the eight river counties in every presidential election dating back to 1984. That year, when seven of the eight went to Ronald Reagan, the Republican carried Wisconsin.
Here’s the outcome of the presidential race in the 11 counties in 2004:
County Percent for John Kerry Percent for President Bush
Pierce 51 48
Pepin 54 46
Buffalo 53 46
Trempealeau 57 42
La Crosse 53 46
Vernon 53 46
Crawford 55 44
Grant 51 48
Dunn 52 47
Eau Claire 54 45
Jackson 54 45
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