WASHINGTON — Julie Lenkiewicz has been involved with Polanki, the Polish Women’s Cultural Club of Milwaukee, for about 25 years. She says Polish Americans in Wisconsin have fundraised and volunteered to help the Ukrainian people, after Russia invaded the country in early 2022. The war in Ukraine is top of mind for many of them heading into Election Day.
“There's actually been quite a few members of Polanki that have gone over and done some volunteer work, whether that's in person or remotely … I think it's stirred up a lot of sentiment as well–pride in being Polish–at what we've done for the people of Ukraine and how we've helped and how we continue to help,” Lenkiewicz said. “So, I think that really has become a bigger point for people as we move into November.”
Census figures show about 450,000 people in Wisconsin, 7.5% of the population, are of Polish ancestry. The margin of victory in the past two presidential elections in Wisconsin was about 20,000 votes.
“They’re all not going to vote one way, but they could be one of those groups that, depending how the breaks go, could settle things,” said Neal Pease, a historian and professor emeritus at UW-Milwaukee.
Pease is the past president and a board member of the Polish American Historical Association. He said Polish Americans have traditionally leaned toward the Democrats, but they’re no longer a reliably blue voting block.
“If there’s anything that is probably going to motivate Polish American voters in particular to go out and vote, it might be because enough of them are convinced that the Democrats are the safer bet when it comes to Polish interests,” he said.
At one point in her debate with Donald Trump, Kamala Harris spoke directly to Polish Americans, especially in Pennsylvania, referencing Trump’s warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his refusal to say he wants Ukraine to win its war with Russia.
“Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship, with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch?” Harris exclaimed.
More than 60 Polish Americans in Wisconsin penned a letter supporting Harris for these reasons, writing in part, “Putin’s next target is Poland. Trump’s comments tell us he does not care what happens to our families and our homeland.”
“It’s so divided now that people could still vote for Trump, definitely,” Lenkiewicz said. “They easily forget some of the things that he has said, unfortunately. Those of us, I feel, that really are invested in and care about Ukraine and Poland and the region won’t forget what he said. So those of us that have a long memory might be a little bit more leaning towards the Harris vote ... I think people need to remember that President Putin is a very dangerous individual, and that’s a very real concern for people in Poland, and that does affect all of us that live here in the United States as well, including in Wisconsin, when we have those strong ties to our family and friends in Poland.”
Trump, on the other hand, has expressed support for Poland. He met with Poland President Andrzej Duda in April and has called Duda his “great friend.”
“Trump enacted several things that would ingratiate him to Poland or to Polish voters,” Pease said. “He visited Poland. He stationed American troops and military installations in Poland. He admitted Poland into a visa waiver program that had long been a policy goal of Poland and much desired by Polish Americans… I’ve heard the argument made that, ‘Well, Trump, if he got in, it wouldn’t be so bad for Poland.’ But, that is kind of counting on Trump’s bark being worse than his bite in terms of how he would approach the issues of NATO, European security in general, and the Ukrainian War and its ramifications for Poland specifically... It’s complicated.”
In a statement to Spectrum News, Jacob Fischer, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said the choice between him and Harris is easy, Polish or not.
“It’s no secret that Kamala Harris is desperate to shore up bleeding support in Wisconsin, especially among the state’s proud Polish American population,” Fischer said. “This November, Wisconsin voters will choose between another four years of disaster, home and abroad, or a return to the Trump administration’s peace, prosperity and stability.”
Pease said distinguishing how Polish Americans will vote as opposed to the general American population is hard to know.
“If you went back, I don’t know, into the 1930s, you knew that Polish Americans were going to vote solidly for FDR, and you just can’t say that anymore,” he explained. “It’s not at all certain how many Polish Americans are going to vote primarily because of foreign policy issues, and how many are going to be more likely to vote based on their feelings about the economy, immigration, the things that have emerged as sort of the big ticket issues among Americans in general. So, I don’t have a crystal ball. I think the Polish American vote is probably up for grabs. I would guess that it might lean slightly Democratic, but I wouldn’t want to put my house on that.”
The battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania also have large Polish American populations.
“When you go to Poland, when you talk to your relatives, when you talk to your friends there, they always want to talk about politics, and they do feel it’s very important that we vote,” Lenkiewicz said. “Polish people, more than anyone else, know the importance and the privilege of voting, so they just encourage us to vote no matter what.”