Trump-ealeau County: County voters support Trump, Republicans

Voters in Trempealeau County overwhelmingly supported President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans down the ballot in last Tuesday’s election.

Trump received 60.1 percent of the vote in Trempealeau County as six of the eight Republicans running in contested races had at least 60 percent of the vote in the county. That was the most support Trump has received in the county as he won 54.3 percent of the vote in 2016 and 57.5 percent in 2020.

Strong turnout amongst rural voters was a key to Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in both the state of Wisconsin and national races. Trump received more than 51 percent of the vote nationwide, winning both the electoral college and the popular vote. This is the first time he has won the national popular vote. He received 49.6 percent of the vote in Wisconsin, besting Harris by about 30,000 total votes. 

Trempealeau County voter turnout was stronger in Tuesday’s election than it was in 2020, 16,077 county residents voted in the Presidential Election, up from 15,380 four years ago. 

Two other national candidates won the county vote, but saw less support than similar races in 2022.

Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) received 57.1 percent of the vote in his race against Rebecca Cooke (D-Eau Claire) for the Third Congressional District seat. That is less support than he received in 2022, when he managed 58.4 percent of the county vote against Brad Pfaff. 

Van Orden won the district, though it was closer than his 2022 race as he received 51.4 percent of the vote, down from 51.8 percent.

Eric Hovde was leading incumbent United States Senator Tammy Baldwin for much of election night, but when the ballots were counted in Milwaukee, Baldwin came away with a narrow win, 49.4 to 48.5 percent. 

But Hovde did what no other Republican has done in defeating Baldwin in Trempealeau County. 

In a rural Osseo appearance in October, Baldwin dismissed the idea that the county was leaning Republican, pointing to her wins in 2012 and 2016. This year, however, Hovde received 57.3 percent of the county vote, despite not making a public appearance in the county. Though, Hovde still polled lower than Ron Johnson did in 2022 when the state’s other U.S. Senator received 59.7 percent of the vote in Trempealeau County.

Assembly District 29

A familiar face will be representing a portion of Trempealeau County again as incumbent Treig Pronschinske (R-Mondovi) polled the best amongst all contested candidates.

Pronschinske received 64.3 percent of the vote in his race against Terry Schoonover (D-Cochrane). 

In all, Pronschinske received about 65 percent of the vote within the district, which also includes portions of Buffalo, Pepin and Pierce counties. He defeated Schoonover by about 10,000 votes. 

Pronschinske was previously the District 92 representative, but will now represent District 29 after statewide redistricting. District 92 included nearly all of Trempealeau County, District 29 includes the towns of Arcadia, Burnside, Chimney Rock, Dodge, Hale, Lincoln, Pigeon, Preston and Trempealeau; villages of Pigeon Falls and Trempealeau and cities of Arcadia, Blair, Independence and Whitehall. 

Schoonover thanked Pronschinske for running a respectful and issues-based campaign.

“I respect anyone who takes on the challenge of running for public office,” Schoonover said. “It’s an incredible undertaking, especially for someone new to running for a state office. We certainly learned a lot in the last seven months.”

Senate District 10

A newcomer to Trempealeau County, Rob Stafsholt received the second-most support amongst Republican candidates in contested elections.

Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) received 61.2 percent of the vote of the 8,580 county voters as he defeated Paul Hambleton (D-Hudson). The towns of Arcadia, Burnside, Dodge, Hale, Lincoln, Pigeon, Preston and Trempealeau; villages of Pigeon Falls and Trempealeau and cities of Arcadia, Blair, Independence and Whitehall are included in the district. 

Hambleton polled better in other counties, but was behind Stafsholt still received more support in Buffalo, Pepin and Pierce counties as he managed about 60 percent of the total vote. 

Stafsholt was an incumbent but is new to Trempealeau County representation after statewide redistricting. 

Assembly District 94

A new race to Trempealeau County, but a rematch from 2022 was even closer this time around, but Democrat Steve Doyle (Onalaska) again bested Republican Ryan Huebsch (Onalaska).

Huebsch carried Trempealeau County with 60.5 percent of the vote, winning each county municipality, but it wasn’t enough to overcome his deficit in La Crosse County.

Huebsch defeated Doyle in the towns of Caledonia, Ettrick and Gale; the village of Ettrick and city of Galesville, but those only made up about 10 percent of the total vote as the district also includes portions of La Crosse County.

Doyle held about a 1,000-vote advantage in La Crosse County and won the seat by about 200 votes. Doyle won by about 750 votes in 2022. 

In a social media post, Doyle thanked those who “Believed in my message of bipartisanship, cooperation and positivity.”

Huebsch indicated a third competition may be forthcoming in a post announcing that he was picking up signs he wrote “There’s a very good chance we’ll need those again.” 

Senate District 32

This new Senate District was almost the same as Assembly District 94. 

Stacey Klein, who is also a member of the Trempealeau County Board of Supervisors, received 60.1 percent of the vote in Trempealeau County, but that was just a small portion of the total vote. 

Incumbent Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) had about an 8,000-vote advantage in La Crosse County as he had about 52 percent of the total vote. There were more than 100,000 total votes cast in that race, only 3,703 of those came from Trempealeau County as the only local municipalities in the district are the towns of Caledonia, Ettrick and Gale; the village of Ettrick and the city of Galesville. 

In a social media post, Pfaff promised to “Continue listening to your concerns, advocating for our shared priorities and working tirelessly to meet our community’s needs.” He also wrote that the election was about more than holding a seat, “It’s about bringing people together to advocate for the change we believe in.” 

Assembly District 93

James Rolbiecki polled similarly to other Republicans in Trempealeau County, but didn’t fare as well in Eau Claire County, losing to Christian Phelps in a matchup between Eau Claire-area candidates. 

Rolbiecki received 60.1 percent of the 3,194 votes cast in Trempealeau County, but Phelps had a more than 3,000-vote advantage in Eau Claire County to take in about 52 percent of the overall vote.

District 93 covers some northern portions of Trempealeau County including the towns of Albion, Sumner and Unity; villages of Eleva and Strum and city of Osseo.