Voters swipe right for Wisconsin's state Supreme Court election
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In the run-up to Wisconsin state's Supreme Court election today, one organization has been courting the vote on dating apps. WUWM's Lina Tran explains.
LINA TRAN, BYLINE: When Noah Turecek matched with Kristi Johnston on Hinge, he was immediately suspicious. Johnston had NextGen in her bio, which rang a bell. Turecek had heard about the progressive organization getting out the vote on dating apps back in 2020.
NOAH TURECEK: The first message of me reaching out was, was she here for a connection? Or is she here trying to get me to pledge my vote?
TRAN: Johnston's reply.
KRISTI JOHNSTON: And I was like, which one do you think? Yeah, it's a cute interaction.
TRAN: Johnston is NextGen's press secretary and an avid Hinge dater. Along with 20 volunteer daters, she set her app location to the Badger State to connect with young people. She lives in the Bay Area but expertly designed her profile to entice Wisconsin matches. There was the Cheesehead hat photo and the Green Bay Packers pickup line.
JOHNSTON: What if I told you that Aaron Rodgers might leave you, but I never would?
TRAN: Turecek, a 26-year-old data engineer, lives in Madison, Wis. That means he votes in a swing state getting ready to elect a justice to the state Supreme Court. In the technically nonpartisan race, the stakes are high. Who wins will decide the balance of the court, conservative or liberal. In the coming years, the court is expected to rule on Wisconsin's abortion ban and election maps. That's why traditional tactics aren't enough. Many are quick to send stop to a campaign text or hang up on a phone banker. But on dating apps, it's normal to talk to strangers.
TURECEK: I appreciate how personal it actually is because they're treating me like a human, not necessarily just a phone number or someone to call.
TRAN: William Blathras, a sophomore at UW-Madison and chairman of Wisconsin College Republicans, is skeptical of the dating apps. Still, he says there's a lesson here for conservatives.
WILLIAM BLATHRAS: I think, like, authentic connection really matters,
TRAN: Blathras says when it comes to engaging Gen Z, the Wisconsin Republican Party lags behind Democrats. In last year's midterms, 70% of voters under 30 chose incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Evers over the Republican challenger. Republicans do have a shot with zoomers, though. In a recent poll, 30% of Gen Zers said they align with Democrats, while roughly a quarter said they're with Republicans. Blathras says that's why the party should invest in young conservatives. It starts with online presence. Currently...
BLATHRAS: The aesthetic is - it's, like, your mom's or your grandma's Facebook page.
TRAN: That's something Maddie Medved sees a lot. The 26-year-old is co-CEO of Girl and the Gov, a political media company for millennial and Gen Z women. When she consults with candidates, it's all about reaching the right voters. In this election, there's been record TV ad spending. But...
MADDIE MEDVED: Our generation's not really - we're not paying for cable anymore. We're paying for streaming services. Or we're watching TikToks all night (laughter).
TRAN: So Medved wants to see innovation.
MEDVED: A lot of campaigns, they have kind of a text message send goal. I think it's become kind of a quantity over quality mindset in some of these organizing tactics.
TRAN: Turecek says he was planning to vote anyway. But a quality interaction had him reading up on the race.
TURECEK: Me getting more information came from just doing background so that we could have more things to talk about.
TRAN: Plus, the operation wasn't purely political. Here's Johnston.
JOHNSTON: I would say I'm in love right now. I'm just so blown away by the niceness of Wisconsin boys. I'm in love with each and every one of them.
TRAN: She and Turecek are getting drinks on Zoom. And she's cooking up plans to go to a Packers game with another match. She just needs to book a flight to Green Bay.
For NPR News, I'm Lina Tran in Milwaukee.
(SOUNDBITE OF TAYLOR SWIFT'S "LOVE STORY (KARAOKE VERSION)")
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