Population growth has big political impacts.
Wisconsin's population is growing but not as fast as some other states, so political experts predict the state will lose a congressional seat after the 2030 Census.

And recent stats show the power of liberal Dane County in state elections -- such a boost to statewide Dem candidates that one operative once dubbed it "the big blue machine.''
The new stats are from the Department of Administration. They show Wisconsin’s population has increased nearly 2.9% as of Jan. 1 compared to the 2020 Census and that Dane County saw the largest increase in the state over that period, both in terms of raw numbers and as a percentage of its 2020 population. The county was at 621,365 residents, up 59,861 compared to six years earlier -- an increase of 10.7%. Madison now has 300,153 residents, an increase of 9.3% compared to 2020.
Other fast-growing areas included one unexpected county -- Calumet, which grew by 4,801 residents, an increase of 9.15% -- and two expected western Wisconsin counties benefitting from Twin Cities sprawl -- St. Croix County, which added 7,446 residents, an increase of nearly 8%, and Eau Claire County with 7,365 more residents, a bump of nearly 7%.
In terms of raw numbers, once ruby red Waukesha County added 12,768 residents, while the swing area of Brown County added 11,324.
Dem-dominated Milwaukee County, the state’s largest at 945,488, has added 5,999 residents since the 2020 census, an increase of just 0.64%. The city of Milwaukee added 1,330 residents, a growth of 0.23%, to 579,252.
The 11 counties seeing a population decrease since 2020 are mostly rural and far from major population centers: Ashland, Price, Langlade, Manitowoc, Richland, Iron, Fond du Lac, Wood, Buffalo, Grant and Menominee (the Fox Valley's Fond du Lac County doesn't fit the pattern).

But in a national context, Wisconsin is slipping.
As Craig Gilbert, a fellow with Marquette University Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, writes:
“A hundred years ago, Wisconsin had 11 members in the U.S. House of Representatives.
After the 1930 Census, it dropped to 10.
After the 1970 Census, it dropped to nine.
After the 2000 Census, it dropped to eight.
And after the 2030 Census, there is a good chance it will drop to seven.
Losing another House seat would have a lot of spin-off effects for Wisconsin. It would mean less of a voice in Congress. It would mean a slightly diminished role in picking presidents, since the nation’s most persistently close presidential battleground would lose an Electoral College vote.''

Population, and where it grows or falls, matters. Watch to see how well Dem gubernatorial David Crowley performs in Dane County, where retiring Gov. Tony Evers got 79 % of the vote during his 2022 reelection bid. Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, lost the county in the primary, garnering 37 percent of the vote compared to Rep. Fracesca Hong's 44 percent. If GOP candidate Tom Tiffany improves on businessman Tim Michels' Dane County total of 21 % -- even by a little -- that would erode a big Dem advantage and potentially help the Republican congressman in a tight race.

For more, go to www.wispolitics.com