With Election Day right over the horizon, candidates and campaigns are making their final efforts to push people out to the polls.

“Everyone is fueled at this point by a mix of adrenaline, caffeine, anxiety, hope. This is the last, last, last moment here. And in some ways, people want it to be over. But on the other hand, there’s still more voters to turn out,” said Adam Wikler.

Wikler was elected chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in 2019, making the 2024 presidential election his second at the swing state’s helm.

But it’s not just elected campaign officials making the effort to advocate.

“There are literally thousands of people each day knocking on the doors of hundreds of thousands of voters in the state of Wisconsin and making millions of phone calls in the last stretch,” said Wikler.

And for the candidates, the last hours of their race can be a time to reflect.

“Typically, the candidates are so busy that they don’t have time to be stressed. And they have last minute things, and they’re reflecting on things that they should have done, could have done, would have done. But they’re running out of time. And yet, they see the goal line tomorrow is the end of the race,” said life-time Republican and GOP political analyst Jim Stauber.

Stauber knows all too well the work that goes into creating a candidates’ campaign trail.

“The last two days, it’s a good chance to thank your closest inner circle supporters. You can do it a little bit on Tuesday as well, of course. But Wednesday, it’s too late. You need to thank them today or tomorrow for all the work they put in. And your kind of a cheerleader at that point for the rest of your campaign to keep their morale up,” said Stauber.

This election is the first for many candidates. For Minnesota House District 3B candidate Mark Munger, his first election on the ballot has taught him a lot.

“I think it is extremely rewarding. It taps into parts of your psyche and your spirit and your soul that you really didn’t know were there to be tapped. I will say that, you know, I’m an old turtle. My shell is pretty thick, right? I can take a lot,” said Munger.

In this 2024 General Election, WDIO is once again giving free television air time to candidates in federal, statewide and regional races in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The candidates can take up to two minutes to speak directly to you, to help you make an informed decision on Election Day.
We’ve offered free airtime to each participating candidate, and if they are not shown, they chose not to utilize this platform.

For more information about local candidates in the 2024 elections, go to Election Free Air Time – WDIO.com