Inside the US county that decides election where locals fear ‘people will die’ | World | News

Warring neighbours in rural Wisconsin have warned that “people will die” because of the bitter divisions caused by the US Election.

Residents of Door County, on the banks of Lake Michigan, have an incredible record of picking the winning president in every contest since 2000.

But according to locals the Express met during a pre-election visit to the area the “swingy” voting patterns in recent years have created a polarised community.

On the outskirts of Sturgeon Bay, Chris Kellems has erected a giant Kamala Harris sign, beside a Ukraine flag and a large banner that reads “Choose reason over treason-vote blue on November 5.”

When she moved to Wisconsin from California for retirement 12 years ago, Kellems was a fully-fledged Republican. But, as Donald Trump gained momentum in the race to be the presidential candidate, she felt increasingly alienated from the party on issues like guns and abortion.

These days she and her husband campaign for the Democratic Party, a decision that has generated serious anger in a county that was historically redder than red.

“I’ve had people yell at me and it’s like; if I have signage out I have to expect that,” she told the Express.

“No one has stopped and physically threatened me. But I did have one of my neighbours say ‘you liberals think you can do anything you want.’” It’s like, no, we don’t we do everything by the rules.”

The animosity Kellems says exists between the two sides is now so extreme her status as a ‘liberal’ meant some people “didn’t see her as a person.”

And, although the retiree feels Door County will be safe, she is convinced that there will be murders across the USA because of the election result.

“I’m just going to be blunt: There will be people who are going to die because of the rabid right mob like we had on January 6th,” she said.

“They might not be out at the capital, but they’ll be out at state capitals and county seats creating havoc.

“About a week ago we were out having breakfast and there was a guy in there who had a side arm [gun] carrying on his belt. Wisconsin is an open-carry state but I’ve never seen anyone carry a weapon in a family restaurant.

“I told the owner she needs to put a sign up [telling people not to bring guns to the restaurant] because somebody is going to get really upset after the election and Harris wins and take matters into their own hands.”

Kellems was deeply upset by the Supreme Court decision that enabled individual states to ban abortion last year and said as a consequence her children had decided not to start families because of a genetic tendency for problems during pregnancy.

It’s a stance that puts her in direct opposition with many of her neighbours. It’s one of the many reasons she believes that, although she occupies a plot of land that has been in her family since the 1960s and has strong ties to the area she’ll never be accepted.

Animosity towards Kellems comes quite literally from next door, where Kevin Haag lives. In his yard, he has a selection of signs with messages backing Donald Trump alongside slogans like “Deport Liberals.”

He feels that Kellems has been provocative by making such a visible statement about her support for Kamala Harris, a behaviour he claims did not occur in Door County historically.

“Look at this,” Haag said, pointing to Kellems’ yard. This is stupid. They’ve got the Ukraine flag, the ‘one world sign,’ all the political signs. It’s like this every year.

“Door County used to be a really wonderful place to live, everybody knew everybody [and] you couldn’t go to the grocery store without bumping into people you knew.

“Now it’s a very divided, different county. It’s very disappointing. You see so many political signs which you never used to. This was such a Republican stronghold.

“It’s sad people never used to ask each other who they voted for.”

Haag and Kellems both agree that gentrification is the main reason Door County has gone from Republican banker to swing state, where Joe Biden won by around 200 votes at the last election.

Enticed by the natural beauty this part of Northern Wisconsin possesses and enabled by the changes to working arrangements enabled by the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an influx of wealthier residents from urban areas like Milwaukee, Chicago and Madison. House prices have unsurprisingly skyrocketed

Haag feels the liberals who’ve moved to Door County are to blame for the area as they hold very different views from the existing blue-collar working-class community on wedge issues like gun control and abortion.

“With Democratic people, you can’t have a civil discussion it’s just name-calling,” he said.

“If you look at the whole platform the liberals are running on it’s abortion which is just murder.

“As a conservative, I can’t comprehend it. But I’m sure they feel that way about us.”

He is also convinced that there will be violence in the aftermath of the election

“I think with this election you’re going to see something you’ve never seen before: violence no matter which side wins.

“Washington DC is putting up barricades, they’ve got the national guard there. I think you’re going to see the fall of democracy.

“It’s a system I support, but as soon as half the people in the country don’t want to work and just get government support and the other half is working it’s butts off to pay for that half, you get to a tipping point.

In a strangely similar manner to Kellems the 67-year-old grew up in Door County moved to Florida and then re-acquired his family home in Wisconsin.

He was pessimistic about the future, believing that whoever was elected would not be able to stem the economic and social problems plaguing the country.

Haag also alleged that in the wake of Biden’s victory, he’d been taunted by Kellems’s friends who’d seen his visible support for the Republicans.

“When the liberals won their friends came down the street beeping their horns and giving us the finger,” he added.

Both were confident their side would be victorious on the morning of November 6. All we know for sure is that when the campaign signs and flags are removed, the division they were a visible demonstration of won’t go away.