The BOW counties () are three

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the U.S. state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, Outagamie, and Winnebago. The counties stretch from the western shore of

Lake Winnebago Lake Winnebago (, , ) is a shallow freshwater lake in the north central United States, located in east central Wisconsin. At , it is the largest lake entirely within the state, covering an area of about by with of shoreline, an average depth ...

down the Fox River to Green Bay. Cities in the BOW counties include Green Bay, De Pere, Appleton (part), Kaukauna (part), New London (part), Seymour,

Neenah Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh and southwest of Green Bay. Neenah's popul ...

, Menasha (part), Omro, and Oshkosh. Also included is the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. The region overlaps with the

Fox Cities The Fox Cities of Northeastern Wisconsin are the cities, towns and villages along the Fox River as it flows from Lake Winnebago northward into Green Bay. The Fox Cities communities, as defined by its Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visit ...

but includes the more populous Brown County, and not Calumet County. The region also excludes the similarly sized Fond du Lac County as it is more solidly Republican and last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964. The term has been in use since at least 2018, but only started being used by mainstream sources in 2020. The area is one of the most

purple Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

(evenly divided) in the state, and a key swing region. These counties tend to be left-leaning compared to the more right-leaning WOW counties located near

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. In the 2016 United States presidential election in Wisconsin,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

received the most votes for president in the BOW counties but with smaller margins than the WOW counties. Trump had 52% of the vote in Brown County, 54% in Outagamie County and just over 50% in Winnebago County. However, in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

it was one of 21 regions in the country identified that had an impact on

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's victory. In addition to presidential elections, the region is watched in other elections, such as races for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

. In 2021, Outagamie voted for left-leaning Justice Janet Protasiewicz despite favoring Trump in the previous year. This contributed to Democrats focusing on the region in the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

Election history

The presidential election results for the BOW counties for recent elections is as follows:

References

{{coord, 44, 15, N, 88, 27, W, region:US-WI, display=title Politics of Wisconsin Regions of Wisconsin