Polish American Vote

[Canis]

As Someone of polish descent I was curious to see how polish people vote when I looked into I found this wikipedia article with the presidential results of the polish vote from every election from 1916 to 2016! check it out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish-American_vote
The polish american vote is significant in Ohio and Wisconsin and has backed the winner in every election except 1968 and 1980. Why do you think that is? Who do you think will win the Polish American vote in 2020

[Senator Incitatus]

A reminder that white Catholics are the swing demographic in American politics, though this trend could break in 2020.

[SingingAnalyst]

As Polish-Americans tend to be conservative, I would say the Polish vote will go to Trump in 2020, just as it did in 2016 (but not by nearly the margin of White Evangelicals).

Did the Polish-American vote ever decide the Presidential election? I believe it has, three times: (1) in 1960 (MI and IL would have gone GOP without the Polish-American vote; (2) in 1976 (OH and WI would have gone GOP without the Polish-American vote; (3) in 2016 (MI-PA-WI would probably have gone Dem without the Polish-American vote).

[Gass3268]

The Polish American vote in Wisconsin used to be one of the fundamental building blocks of the Democratic Party. As recent as 2008, Obama got over 60% with that cohort. Even in blow out loses, Democrats typically had solid performances in Polish places. This all changed in 2010 when Walker and Johnson won these areas. Obama and Baldwin only got narrow wins in 2012, Walker won them again in 2014 before Trump and Johnson won them by a strong margins in 2016, and they didn't even come back for Baldwin in 2018, let alone Evers.

Compare this to the Norwegian Americans, where Baldwin won by a significant margin and even Evers won them while essentially tying statewide.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

The Polish American vote in Wisconsin used to be one of the fundamental building blocks of the Democratic Party. As recent as 2008, Obama got over 60% with that cohort. Even in blow out loses, Democrats typically had solid performances in Polish places. This all changed in 2010 when Walker and Johnson won these areas. Obama and Baldwin only got narrow wins in 2012, Walker won them again in 2014 before Trump and Johnson won them by a strong margins in 2016, and they didn't even come back for Baldwin in 2018, let alone Evers.

Compare this to the Norwegian Americans, where Baldwin won by a significant margin and even Evers won them while essentially tying statewide.

Which areas in the state have the most Polish Americans.

[Gass3268]

The Polish American vote in Wisconsin used to be one of the fundamental building blocks of the Democratic Party. As recent as 2008, Obama got over 60% with that cohort. Even in blow out loses, Democrats typically had solid performances in Polish places. This all changed in 2010 when Walker and Johnson won these areas. Obama and Baldwin only got narrow wins in 2012, Walker won them again in 2014 before Trump and Johnson won them by a strong margins in 2016, and they didn't even come back for Baldwin in 2018, let alone Evers.

Compare this to the Norwegian Americans, where Baldwin won by a significant margin and even Evers won them while essentially tying statewide.

Which areas in the state have the most Polish Americans.

The central part of the state, particularly Northeast Portage and Southeast Marathon. At one time there was a huge centralized Polish community in Southern Milwaukee, but they have now dispersed so much into the metro area and intermarried with other ancestries that it is impossible to track their voting behaviors.

Most of the Norwegian Americans are in Trempealeau and Vernon Counties in the Driftless Area.   

[King of Kensington]

Was just thinking about this.  Polish American voters very likely played a key role in swinging Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to Trump.

[TDAS04]

Probably helped JFK a lot, swinging IL, MI, & PA.

[King of Kensington]

I take it Chicago area Polish Americans voted for Trump but their votes were diluted by minorities and (mostly non-Polish) professional class whites.

[SInNYC]

Is it the Polish-ness or the Catholic-ness? I suspect the latter, though some data would be nice.

Catholics as a whole have moved R, with Democrats downplaying their anti-poverty platforms and becoming more of a middle-class technocratic party while Republicans gobbled up the religious vote with social issues like abortion.

[Gass3268]

Is it the Polish-ness or the Catholic-ness? I suspect the latter, though some data would be nice.

Catholics as a whole have moved R, with Democrats downplaying their anti-poverty platforms and becoming more of a middle-class technocratic party while Republicans gobbled up the religious vote with social issues like abortion.

At least in Wisconsin, Polish Americans remained firmly loyal to the Democrats until 2008. German Catholics had shifted to the Republicans well before that.

[NOVA Green]

Amazing that nobody has mentioned the fact yet that a large number of Polish Americans are actually of Central-European Jewish background (I believe SInNYC might have indirectly alluded to that in his post upthread).

It would be a "Whitewashing" of Polish-American history to simply focus on Catholic Polish populations, with the obvious caveat as many other posters mentioned of historic patterns of inter-marriage between individuals from various country of origins over three major waves of Polish immigration to the United States.

[King of Kensington]

Amazing that nobody has mentioned the fact yet that a large number of Polish Americans are actually of Central-European Jewish background (I believe SInNYC might have indirectly alluded to that in his post upthread).

It would be a "Whitewashing" of Polish-American history to simply focus on Catholic Polish populations, with the obvious caveat as many other posters mentioned of historic patterns of inter-marriage between individuals from various country of origins over three major waves of Polish immigration to the United States.

Many Jews have ancestors who came from Poland but they do not identify as Polish or with the Polish American community.

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Amazing that nobody has mentioned the fact yet that a large number of Polish Americans are actually of Central-European Jewish background (I believe SInNYC might have indirectly alluded to that in his post upthread).

It would be a "Whitewashing" of Polish-American history to simply focus on Catholic Polish populations, with the obvious caveat as many other posters mentioned of historic patterns of inter-marriage between individuals from various country of origins over three major waves of Polish immigration to the United States.

As a Jew, I don't care. "Whitewash" it all you want, it's more accurate to consider them separately.

[King of Kensington]

I assume the third and fourth generation Polish Americans have long departed from Chicago proper and they're pretty much assimilated in far flung suburbia for the most part.  Looking at the Polish neighborhoods in Chicago, they seem to be mostly made up of more recent immigrants from the 80s/90s (given the high numbers born in Poland and speaking Polish).