Voting in Harmony: A Wisconsin township sets itself apart and has a knack for picking winners

HARMONY, Wis. (AP) — It’s hard living in harmony during these politically divisive times.

But residents of a tiny Wisconsin town say they have the simple answer: actually live in Harmony.

Residents of Harmony Township — spread out on rich farmland and residential subdivisions on the outskirts of Janesville — tend to live up to the name of the 24-square-mile town near the Illinois state line. They also offer a reliable barometer of the political leanings of the swing state of Wisconsin.

Since 2000, Harmony voters have sided with the winner in all 13 presidential and gubernatorial races.

“I do believe that the country is quite divided,” said town board Chair Jeff Klenz, sporting a long white goatee and wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt. “I don’t believe that same thing in Harmony Township. You don’t get the feeling of people being against each other.”

Klenz repeats a saying heard frequently around the town of 2,500: “Everybody lives in harmony in Harmony Township.”

Demographically, Harmony has the same percentage of white people as the state — about 86%. Almost 12% identified of Harmony residents identified as multiracial, above the statewide average of 2.2%. But there’s no Black population to speak of, in a state that’s 6% Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

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