Prized ‘blue wall’ voters give divergent reasons for Harris, Trump choice at close of tight race

MILWAUKEE — Jerold Harrell checked the Kamala Harris box on his presidential ballot partially because the Democratic candidate pledged to address the housing shortage, protect Social Security benefits and defend the Constitution.

His chief motivation, however, was ending the Trump era of politics.

“Those issues were at the forefront of my mind, but deep down inside, I want to stop him,” the Black 70-year-old retired military veteran said.

Hundreds of miles away in Pennsylvania, Bonnie Dolack said she was nostalgic for the Trump years.

“He was really taking care of America. He’s going to fix a lot of the broken things, the border, economy,” the 69-year-old retired artist from Philadelphia said. “Kamala Harris is just useless. She’s done, actually, nothing. He’s done a lot.”

Ms. Dolack and Mr. Harrell are voters from “blue wall” states. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are expected to largely determine the next U.S. president.

These voters’ starkly opposing views on the candidates and what matters in the election underscored the sharp divide in the country and the blue wall battlegrounds.

Ms. Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck in the three states, which traditionally have voted for Democrats in presidential elections.

In 2016, Mr. Trump flipped the states into the Republican column when he outpaced Hillary Clinton by fewer than 80,000 votes out of millions cast across the three battlegrounds.

Surveys have consistently shown the economy, immigration, abortion and preserving democracy are the top issues.

Mr. Trump is more trusted on the economy and immigration. Ms. Harris is preferred for those concerned about protecting abortion rights and defending democracy, with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol still fresh in their minds.

When asked about her chief concern, Karen Larson of Wrightstown, Wisconsin, said immigration and the economy while lamenting that her “checkbook is a lot worse” since Mr. Trump left office in 2021.

“I am all for immigration, but they need to vet them slower so we don’t get evil people in our country,” said Ms. Larson, a 62-year-old retired nurse. “We are spending a lot of money to pay for the immigrants to live. Somebody has to pay for that, and that is us.”

Harris supporters said the right to abortion is about freedom.

“She is going to turn Roe v. Wade back over so that women should have a choice of their own bodies that’s between a woman and God and Jesus,” said Joan Johnson, 69, a retired flight attendant from Philadelphia. “Government has nothing to do with what’s going on in our bedrooms.”

She said Ms. Harris doesn’t disrespect women.

“When she says something, she doesn’t lie, and I can’t stand a liar,” Ms. Johnson said.

The campaigns have tried to press their advantages with voters across the Great Lakes region. In the final days before the election, Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump held rallies in Milwaukee County that drew thousands of supporters.

Mr. Trump held Sunday events in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. Ms. Harris made multiple stops in Michigan.

The campaigns and their allies also have blanketed television airwaves with hundreds of millions of dollars of ads.

The Trump world focused its final ads on immigration and casting Ms. Harris as the status quo. Team Harris focused on abortion and questioned Mr. Trump’s mental stability.

“Kamala backed Biden on everything,” says a closing Trump ad, highlighting her support for the president’s “disastrous economic agenda” and “open border policies.”

“Now Kamala wants to double down on failure,” the male narrator says in the 30-second spot. “It is time to turn the page on Joe and Kamala’s failed agenda.

“President Trump fights for you. His strength kept us safe. Trump cut taxes for families, prices were lower and the border secure. Now President Trump can do it again,” the narrator says. “Remember, Kamala broke it. President Trump will fix it.”

Ms. Harris warns TV viewers that Mr. Trump would “wake up every day and stew over his enemies list,” but she would focus on a “to-do list for you, the American people.”

“I will cut costs by cracking down on corporate price gouging, make housing more affordable, lower taxes for middle-class families and protect Social Security,” she says. “I will  focus on getting things done.”

The forward-looking message resonates with Sheila Robinson. The 60-year-old Milwaukee native said her primary motivation to vote for Ms. Harris is “fairness.”

“I’m an educated African American woman, and so I hear him say Make America Great Again, but was it great for us, the African American women? So that’s going to be my motivation. I don’t know if I want to go back. I want to go forward,” she said. “I’m especially talking about African American educated women. We struggle, push hard, and still have to prove ourselves.”

In Oshkosh, retired lawyer Leslie Unger, 69, said Ms. Harris has been a “fabulous” candidate.

She said her vote was “probably mostly” to prevent Mr. Trump from returning to the White House.

“Trump is abominable,” Ms. Uner said. “He stewed and groused and whined for four years, and now he’s ready to really blow things up, and he’s only going to hire the worst people.

“The Republican Party has gone nuts and gone downhill and turned into a party of hate and retribution and vitriol,” she said.

In Pennsylvania, Eileen Tillman, 65, said she would vote for Mr. Trump because she is “making sure that there is a future for our next generation.”

She said she favored Mr. Trump’s stance on immigration, tax cuts and global affairs. She said the former president is focused on “what the people need instead of thinking this high and glorious stuff that Democrats basically are pushing for.”

• Kerry Picket reported from Allentown, Pennsylvania.