Don't expect much downtime for Democrat Mandela Barnes or Republican Ron Johnson this weekend. The two candidates for the Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat in Tuesday's election have been campaigning at a frenetic pace, hoping to win more supporters and get them to the voting booth.
Most polls, including the latest one from Marquette University, show Barnes trailing Johnson, but only by a little bit — well within the poll's margin of error.
So, it's conceivable the Democrat could make up any gap by election night.
Barnes has not only been campaigning in blue strongholds like Milwaukee and Madison. He even made a stop in traditionally red territory — Jackson, in Washington County.
There, at the Coffeeville Company coffee shop, the Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor talked about how he and now-Gov. Tony Evers defeated the incumbent GOP ticket of Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch four years ago.
"We had to look another bogeyman in the eye. What we did was, we showed up everywhere. We didn't just assume Milwaukee and Madison would make up the difference, just as (we) didn't assume more rural counties wouldn't show up for us. We went all across this state, led with our values and vision, and talked about the things that matter," Barnes said.
Barnes told the mostly older crowd that the issues that matter this year in the Senate contest include Sen. Johnson's push for annual reviews of Social Security and Medicare spending. Johnson claims he wants to save the two programs for the long-term, not gut them. Barnes also mentions protecting schools against gun violence, and Johnson's downplaying of the attack on the U.S. Capitol January 6 of last year.
The Democrat also talks about women's rights, and criticizes this year's Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe vs. Wade protections for abortion.
Audience member Carol Anderson says she likes what she hears from Barnes and other Democrats.
"We see the Republican Party trying to put women back in their role of the 1950s, and that's not going to happen. We're not going to let that happen," Anderson told WUWM.
Barnes has raised a lot of money to take his message statewide. But so has Johnson, who also has been aided by millions of dollars in so-called independent spending by wealthy conservative backers.
Johnson has obviously had the money to travel the state and hold rallies of his own.
"We love Ron. We love Ron. We love Ron," went one chant, when Johnson spoke to a mostly older audience at a restaurant in Waukesha, even as he listed what he sees are the nation's key problems.
"You know, 40-year high inflation crushing all of us, particularly seniors. The skyrocketing crime. Record gasoline prices, high energy prices. An open border and flood of deadly drugs. I call that the list of horribles," Johnson said.
Democrats say either that Johnson is exaggerating that list, or should bear the blame for some of it.
But Waukesha audience member Ron Raduechel says the two-term Senator and former business owner has been good for the state.
"Honest man. Not a politician. An accountant. Who doesn't like an accountant? So looking forward to his third term," Raduechel says.
Johnson once promised that his current term would be his last. Whether he gets to go back to Congress for six more years may depend on how well get out the vote efforts go for Johnson and Barnes between now and 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.
But as Marquette pollster Charles Franklin says, that's something neither candidate can truly control.
"There's always greater uncertainty about turnout. People can change their minds. A friend that says, 'Hey, let's go vote,' is all the difference between a voter and a friend who says, 'Hey let's go get a beer.'"
