That is the margin that helped launch one of the most consequential political careers in modern Wisconsin state government.
asserted
that → help → government
In September 2010, Tyler August was a 27-year-old candidate running in a six-way Republican primary for an open seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
asserted
August → run → Assembly
When election night ended, it appeared he had lost.
asserted
he → end → ?
Adam Gibbs was reported ahead by four votes.
asserted
Gibbs → report → votes
Then came the recount.
asserted
recount → come → ?
When it was finished, August had won 1,760 votes to Gibbs’ 1,757.
asserted
August → finish → 1,757
Fewer people than fit around most kitchen tables separated winning from losing.
August went on to win the general election that November.
asserted
August → separate → election
later, he serves as majority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly, one of the most powerful positions in state government.
asserted
he → serve → government
Think about everything that had to pass through that three-vote doorway first.
asserted
that → think → doorway
Every vote he has cast in the legislature.
asserted
he → cast → legislature
Every bill he has introduced.
asserted
he → introduce → ?
Every budget he has helped shape.
asserted
he → help → ?
Every negotiation, committee assignment and leadership decision that came afterward.
asserted
that → come → ?
Every Wisconsin family, worker or business affected by legislation enacted during his time in office.
asserted
family → affect → office
None of it happens the same way if that primary ends differently.
asserted
primary → happen → it
That is the part we tend to forget when we say our vote "doesn’t matter."
asserted
vote → tend → ?
August went on to win the general election that November.
asserted
August → go → election
Sixteen years later, he serves as majority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly, one of the most powerful positions in state government.
asserted
he → serve → government
We imagine elections as enormous things.
asserted
We → imagine → things
Against all of that, one person standing in a voting booth can feel almost comically insignificant.
asserted
person → stand → booth
But elections are not actually decided by "the electorate."
asserted
elections → decide → electorate
They are decided by individual people, one ballot at a time.
asserted
They → decide → time
And my home state of Wisconsin offers a remarkable example of just how thin the distance between two outcomes can be.
asserted
distance → offer → outcomes
In the 2020 presidential election, more than 3.2 million Wisconsinites cast ballots.
asserted
Wisconsinites → cast → ballots
Only Georgia and Arizona had narrower margins by percentage, with their presidential contests decided by just 11,779 and 10,457 votes, respectively.
asserted
contests → have → votes
Four years later, more than 3.4 million Wisconsinites voted, and the presidential margin was 29,397, making Wisconsin the closest state in the country by percentage of votes cast.
asserted
Wisconsin → vote → votes
Those numbers sound large until you compare them with the millions of ballots cast.
asserted
you → sound → ballots
Wisconsin's experience offers a lesson for voters across America: No election should be treated as a foregone conclusion.
asserted
election → offer → conclusion
And the consequences stretch far beyond which name appears on an office door.
asserted
name → stretch → door
State and local governments across the country make decisions every year about taxes, regulations, housing, licensing, education, infrastructure, employment rules and the cost of doing business.
asserted
governments → make → business
Those decisions determine how easy it is to open a storefront, hire another employee, build a home, expand a farm or invest in a community.
asserted
it → determine → community
In the 2020 presidential election, more than 3.2 million Wisconsinites cast ballots.
asserted
Wisconsinites → cast → ballots
Only Georgia and Arizona had narrower margins by percentage, with their presidential contests decided by just 11,779 and 10,457 votes, respectively.
asserted
contests → have → votes
Free enterprise does not exist separately from government policy.
asserted
enterprise → exist → policy
The rules government writes shape the environment in which people take risks, build businesses and create opportunity.
asserted
people → write → opportunity
Which means the people who write those rules matter.
asserted
who → mean → rules
And the people who choose them matter too.
asserted
who → choose → them
Voting is sometimes talked about as an expression of personal identity.
asserted
Voting → talk → identity
Increasingly, politics itself feels that way.
asserted
politics → feel → ?
It is one of the few moments when every citizen gets the exact same unit of political power.
asserted
citizen → get → power
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
