
Located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Trempealeau Rivers, Trempealeau County is a rural county of 29,000 people. Trump swung Trempealeau by 26 points, helping him to become the first Republican to take Wisconsin in 32 years. Arcadia, the county’s largest city of 3,000 residents, has seen an explosion of Latino immigrants in recent years who have arrived to work at a chicken processing plant and at Ashley Furniture’s headquarters. Latino businesses now line Main Street. Some journalists have portrayed Trump’s victory here as a reaction to these immigrant newcomers. But his victory here might have had as much to do with the leftward direction of the Democratic Party and what its agenda offers rural voters as it did with Trump’s message.