With the midterm elections fast approaching, politicians and celebrities are using social media and television ads to urge people to get registered before November 6. But there is a large population of Wisconsin residents who have the potential to alter the outcome of the midterm elections — and they haven’t seen any ads.
According to Amish America’s website, Wisconsin has the fourth-largest population of Plain People behind Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Wisconsin has a population of over 20,000 Amish and Mennonite who primarily have no political affiliations with either the Republican or Democratic parties, officially making them swing voters.
Erin Cassidente is a New Order Mennonite from the Milwaukee Mennonite Church. “We’re not what you would call ‘patriotic’,” Cassidente said, explaining that Old Order Amish and Mennonites put God before their country, but some individuals participate in elections if they believe the outcome will benefit their local community or make positive change.
‘Plain People’ is a general term for “members of any of various Protestant groups especially in the U.S. who wear distinctively plain clothes and adhere to a simple and traditional style of life excluding many conveniences of modern technology,” as defined by Merriam-Webster.
Recruiting Voters
Because most political advertisements are found on television, radio and social media, Amish and Mennonite communities aren’t as well informed about politics.
There have been campaigns in the past that encouraged Amish and Mennonite voters. For example, in 2004, President George W. Bush used an Amish Political Action Committee (PAC) totarget Plain People in Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to a study by Elizabethtown College’s Young Center forAnabaptist and Pietist Studies. This effort successfully recruited 1,342 of the10,350 eligible voters in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the county with thelargest population of Plain People in the US.
President Donald Trump also used an Amish PAC in the 2016 presidential election. Trumpaccumulated 1,019 votes from the 15,055 eligible Amish and Mennonite voters inLancaster County, according to the study. $12,000 was spent by Amish PAC on billboardsand newspaper ads in areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio with high Amish and Mennonite populations.
Since Wisconsin does not have an Amish PAC, these potential votes may go untapped. With over 20,000 eligible Plain voters in Wisconsin with no declared political affiliations, these swing voters could sway the vote to either side. The Republican Party would be the likely benefactor, as Plain People in Wisconsin align their religious beliefs closer to conservatives than liberals.
“In Pennsylvania there’s a lotmore diversity. They don’t even look like Mennonites and they don’t do thingslike the ones out here do,” said Stacy Lasee, a Mennonite woman from centralWisconsin. ”There’s definitely not as many liberals as there are in PA.”
Mark Louden is a New Order Mennonite and co-director of UW-Madison’s Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies. He is a member of the Milwaukee Mennonite Church. “Most Amish and Old Order Mennonites do not vote, especially in national elections,” Louden wrote in an email. “This is particularly true of Plain People in Wisconsin, who tend to be more conservative than their brethren in larger communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.”
“The Amish and Old Order Mennonites aim to obey all laws and pray for those in authority, but since they will not stand as candidates for elected office, most feel it is not appropriate to vote,” Louden wrote.
The Plain People who do vote, tend to be young male businessmen according to Amish America.
Distinguishing Plain People
Cassidente said that Amish and Mennonites are Anabaptists.
The Anabaptist religion is a Protestant sectarian of a radical movement arising in the 16th century and advocating the baptism and church membership of adult believers only, nonresistance, and the separation of church and state, as defined by Merriam-Webster.
The lifestyles of the Amish and Mennonite communities in central Wisconsin are easily identifiable by the appearance of their clothes, homes, and methods of transportation. Old Order Amish and Mennonite people dress in black from their hats and bonnets to their boots.Their houses are white, their barns are red, and their wagons are black.
Old Order Mennonites are more easily distinguished from the Amish by their use of motorized vehicles. Mennonites drive only black vehicles and farm equipment, while Amish primarily use horses to pull enclosed wagons that are commonly called ‘buggies’.
Amish and Old Order Mennonites can be distinguished from New Order Mennonites by their company, their clothing and their use of technology. New Order Mennonites dress in modern clothing and drive cars in many colors.