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Democratic Operative's Handbook 8 Electoral College Homesteaded States
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We Can’t Afford to Lose in 2024  We must address the rural urban divide

I’m concerned about the 2024 election.  Democrats already do a good job campaigning for the popular vote.  Republicans do a good job campaigning for the Electoral College vote.  I am here to provide a view into the thinking of the rural voter and to help us win the Electoral College vote.  I do not mean to challenge Democratic priorities or messages.  I focus on the need to constantly pivot from urban to rural.  This is particularly important in the 8 upper Midwestern states (of which 6 are solidly swing states) that have both a large urban and a large rural population, and which are my focus.  These states are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  I refer to those states as the Electoral College Homesteaded States.  I was raised on a family farm in the middle of those states.

 

Unfortunately the rural voter has become the largest under-represented minority group in Politics, even though it represents up to a third of the Electoral College vote that matters. The following chart represents the under-represented groups in the 8 Electoral College Homesteaded States, weighted by the number of votes from each of the 8 states:

Mark W. Yonkman on The Race  

the upper Midwest was homesteaded after the Civil War
Rural voters are largest under represented voter bloc

It isn’t always a matter of saying different things, it is often a matter of saying the same thing differently. 

 

President Obama did this beautifully.  He also had the advantage of naturally being able to speak to rural voters and black urban voters at the same time – in many respects the voice used to speak to both rural and black voters is the same.  I know because I have lived in a mixed household for the last 27 years. 

 

 

President Obama won all 8 Electoral College Homesteaded States the first time he ran.  And as we know, if you win all 8 states, you win the election.

 

Candidate Hillary Clinton ran an excellent campaign to win the popular vote.  And she did win it.  It also was clear to me that Hillary would lose all 6 Midwestern Electoral College swing states because she was not running a campaign to win the Electoral College vote.  And she did lose all 6 swing states.  Not because of any particular policy or agenda item.  She simply never spoke to the rural voter, did not have any staff focused on the family farm or rural issues, and brought up the wrong issues at the wrong times with the wrong people.  She spoke to me consistently on issues I cared about as a gay parent of two black daughters.  But she already had my vote.  I constantly thought “Why is she bringing these things up with my rural neighbors?”  Even on issues that garner some sympathy, rural voters kept wondering “Sure, but what about me?”

 

There is no reason Democrats can’t win all 8 Midwestern Homesteaded States.  President Obama did.  It is not just about policy.  We all know that policy will never win an election on its own – a candidate also has to demonstrate that he or she is on Team Rural and Team Farm to win the Electoral College vote.  It is simply a matter of speaking to the rural voter, not just the urban voter, and on issues in which the rural voter is interested.  The Youth, Black, LGBTQ, and Arab American vote will no longer make up for the loss of the rural vote. 

 

My goal is to help in this endeavor.

Win in 2024 Reclaim the Rural Vote by Mark Yonkman

LET'S TALK

Tel: 231-878-5161

Stakes for the 2024 election could not be higher. The future of our democracy is on the ballot. But Democrats won’t win if they can’t speak effectively to the rural voter.


President Obama proved it can be done in the modern era.   We can do it again.


I’ve had the unique opportunity to experience both sides of the urban-rural divide. Growing up on my family’s farm in Michigan and spending my professional career as an attorney in urban settings has given me the ability to understand and appreciate both perspectives.


My goal is to help Democratic campaigns to effectively reach and persuade the rural voter and to help them consciously build a rural function into their campaign staff to reach this under-represented minority. I’m pleased to make myself available as a resource to support political campaigns in the all-important rural homesteaded states.

Mark W. Yonkman
Democratic Operative's Handbook

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Barnes & Noble Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
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