The BOW counties () are three counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin: Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago. The counties stretch from the western shore of Lake Winnebago 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, Menasha (part), Omro, and Oshkosh. Also included is the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. The region overlaps with the Fox Cities 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 (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. In the 2016 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Donald Trump 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 it was one of 21 regions in the country identified that had an impact on Joe Biden's victory. In addition to presidential elections, the region is watched in other elections, such as races for United States Senate and Wisconsin Supreme Court. In 2023, 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.

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

TotalDemocratic votesDemocratic percentageRepublican votesRepublican percentageThird party votes2024 Total356,636162,03545.43%189,13853.03%5,4632024 Brown149,33367,93745.49%79,13252.99%22642024 Outagamie111,93249,43844.17%60,82754.34%16672024 Winnebago95,37144,66046.83%49,17951.57%15322020 Total346,071157,23845.44%182,05252.61%6,7812020 Brown144,01765,51145.49%75,87152.68%2,6352020 Outagamie108,02247,66744.13%58,38554.05%1,9702020 Winnebago94,03244,06046.86%47,79650.83%2,1762016 Total310,079128,49741.44%160,53451.77%19,6972016 Brown129,01153,38241.38%67,21052.10%7,9442016 Outagamie93,93338,06840.53%49,87953.10%5,5062016 Winnebago87,13537,04742.52%43,44549.86%6,2472012 Total312,697153,63449.13%154,33049.35%4,7332012 Brown128,92862,52648.50%64,83650.29%1,5662012 Outagamie94,59645,65948.27%47,37250.08%1,5652012 Winnebago89,17345,44950.97%42,12247.24%1,6022008 Total303,994165,73054.52%133,47743.91%4,6092008 Brown124,75467,26953.92%55,85444.77%1,6312008 Outagamie91,56350,29454.93%39,67743.33%1,4142008 Winnebago87,67748,16754.94%37,94643.28%1,5642004 Total301,940136,04745.06%162,61853.86%3,2752004 Brown123,29454,93544.56%67,17354.48%1,1862004 Outagamie90,05040,16944.61%48,90354.31%9782004 Winnebago88,59640,94346.21%46,54252.53%1,1112000 Total259,591115,81444.61%132,04850.87%11,7292000 Brown107,76949,09645.56%54,25850.35%4,4152000 Outagamie75,74232,73543.22%39,46052.10%3,5472000 Winnebago76,08033,98344.67%38,33050.38%3,7671996 Total 1996 Brown 47.1% 42.5%1996 Outagamie 44.4% 42.8%1996 Winnebago 45.3% 42.7%

See also WOW counties

References