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During the Democratic National Convention's boisterous roll call on Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers stood amid a sea of fluorescent yellow cheesehead hats and declared that he was "jazzed as hell" to cast Wisconsin's votes for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (He also elicited boos from the Chicago crowd for mentioning the Green Bay Packers.)
The scene on the convention floor was emblematic of the Midwest's starring role in the 2024 election and, increasingly, pop culture as a whole.
Thanks to the biographies of the vice-presidential candidates and pop-culture influences, such as the meteoric rise of "Midwest Princess" Chappell Roan, once-niche aspects of Midwestern identities — hotdish recipes, foam cheeseheads, folksy turns of phrase — are now inescapable.
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Both parties recognize the pivotal role of Midwestern states in the 2024 election, as evidenced by the locations of their respective conventions. Republicans gathered at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, and Democrats congregated about 90 miles south in Chicago's United Center.
Illinois has been a solidly blue state since 1992, but Wisconsin and Michigan are two of the seven battleground states that will decide the election. Their combined 25 electoral votes are crucial for reaching the necessary 270, and their narrow margins in past elections make them competitive for both candidates.
On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, Harris and Walz took advantage of the proximity of Chicago to Milwaukee, packing Fiserv Forum with Democratic supporters and appearing at the DNC via video feed. The move underscored the Harris campaign's determination not to underestimate the importance of Midwestern states like Wisconsin, which Hillary Clinton skipped over and lost to Donald Trump in 2016.
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The prominence of the Midwest in the 2024 election is especially visible in each candidate's vice-presidential pick. Walz and Trump's running mate, JD Vance, act as foils of each other with contrasting Midwestern identities and values.
Walz was raised in Nebraska, teaching social studies and coaching football at a Minnesota public school before entering politics. Vance grew up poor in Ohio and rose to fame as the author of "Hillbilly Elegy" chronicling his upbringing and the disillusionment of America's white working class.
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In their efforts to court working and middle-class voters, each has sought to delegitimize the other. Vance has attacked Walz's military career, and Walz has joked that Vance can't tell a runza, a regional specialty, apart from a Hot Pocket.
In an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Pete Buttigieg, one of the Democratic party's most effective communicators and a Midwesterner himself, said that viewers of Walz and Vance's upcoming vice presidential debate "will see a very different account of what it means to be a Midwesterner."
The overnight success of Chappell Roan's album, "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess," has helped mainstream Midwestern narratives and aesthetics beyond politics.
Roan's album, in which she sings about her Missouri upbringing and burgeoning queerness, has steadily climbed the Billboard Albums chart, reaching No. 2 behind Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department." With seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100, she drew a record-breaking crowd of 110,000 at Lollapalooza in June.
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When the Harris-Walz campaign debuted a camouflage hat, fans immediately highlighted the resemblance to Roan's tour merchandise — a new point of reference for the kind of homespun aesthetic once largely limited to the aisles of Menards.
Her music even appeared at the Democratic National Convention when her home state of Missouri played "Good Luck, Babe!" during the roll call.
It's yet another indication that "flyover country" is no more — at least until election day.
