MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — It’s hard to find a Trump supporter in Milwaukee.
It’s not that Donald Trump hasn’t tried to garner support here, of course. The Republican nominee held events in Wisconsin and boasts a campaign office in the city. When an advisor announced that a grassroots group supporting the candidate planned to conduct “exit polling” outside voting locations across the country, they specifically mentioned Milwaukee as a target. Some poll aggregators even list the Badger State as a tossup.
But if the response of voters around the state’s largest city is any indication, Milwaukee—a historically Democratic city—is looking a lot like Clinton country.
This includes Delon, who marched proudly out of a polling location on Wisconsin Street on Tuesday eager to talk about his choice.
“I voted for Hillary Clinton because I think Donald Trump is the devil in flesh,” he said. “I’m not a Trump fan at all. Not only is his political stance on a lot of foreign issues just terrible, I just don’t like the way that he presents himself as a human being.”
“I voted for Hillary Clinton because I think Donald Trump is the devil in flesh.”
Delon wore a disabled veteran ID around his neck, saying he served in the Army from 1992 to 2000. His expressed fear that his veteran’s benefits could suffer under Trump.
“Not only would the political climate change if Trump gets in, but the trickle-down from his presidency would change a lot of things about me being a veteran,” he said. “I’m a disabled veteran. I receive disability, and I believe that he would enforce or enact a lot of things that would not help me as a disabled vet.”
Donald Trump has not specifically outlined any plan to cut veterans benefits, but he has publicly mocked a disabled reporter, and was embroiled in scandal when he claimed to have donated millions of dollars to veterans groups—but reportedly only started cutting checks after the Washington Post began investigating his claims.
Across town to the northeast, first-time voter Majesty cast his ballot at a polling location named after the president—the Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education. He exited the voting booth with his mother, and was quick to answer when asked who he supported.
“Hillary!” he said, laughing. His mother looked on with a smile, bragging that her son graduated high school at 16.
Every other person ThinkProgress spoke with at the polling location listed Hillary Clinton as their preferred candidate.
The vibe was somewhat different on the east side of town, where the demographics skew wealthier and whiter. Several voters at one polling location—tucked away within an Episcopal church, complete with couches for visitors to recline on—declined to discuss their choice for president with ThinkProgress, most walking away briskly when asked.
Still, there were hints of strong Clinton support. When asked who she voted for, one woman—who did not give her name—demurred, saying it was a “personal thing.” But she fingered her hat and shirt as she spoke, grinning broadly: both were adorned with the logo of the comic book hero Wonder Woman.
ThinkProgress was able to find one voter who listed someone other than Clinton, however. Another man, who declined to give his name, arrived at the Episcopal church in a beat up compact car that was blaring a deep track by AC/DC. When asked who he voted for, the older man flipped his long, flowing hair and declared his allegiance to an unorthodox candidate.
“Vermin Supreme,” he said, beaming. When asked if he really wrote in the famous “joke” candidate, he replied: “That’s classified, man.”