"Politics these days...it's 24/7:" Gubernatorial campaigns gearing up to get out the vote

WAUKESHA (WITI) -- It's still more than four months until we head to the polls, but both Republican and Democratic field offices are humming. It seems the candidates are getting started early -- but it wasn't always this way.

The cold calls add up quickly in the Republican field office in Waukesha in early June. Volunteers want to know where voters stand on Gov. Scott Walker.

"It advances the campaign more. We can tell which people are leaning which way and which the other," Logan Hansen said.

Activity is ramping up in field offices across the state. These days, it never really ends.

"In some respects, this is kind of a natural evolution of politics because in the old days, 10-15 years ago, what used to happen is that between elections, parties were sort of defunct. They were small entities and then when they got close to an election, they`d kind of gear up and scale up," UW-Milwaukee Professor of Governmental Affairs Mordecai Lee said.

Lee says parties have learned it's better to keep the lights on.

It's something both Democrats and Republicans are doing.

"Politics and campaigns these days, especially grassroots politics like this, right here, this office...it`s 24/7," Joe Fadness, the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin said.

What the parties do during that 24/7 run has evolved over time as well.

Lee says parties want to know not only who someone is likely to vote for, but what issues matter most to them.

"Campaigns are shifting from these rough categories that we used to use 10 years ago like 'soccer moms' or 'NASCAR dads.' They`re using much more sophisticated categorizations -- almost down to the individual," Lee said.

It is a message FOX6 heard from both Democrats and Republicans during visits to their offices in Waukesha.

"Politics is very personal. It`s based on personal relationships. The more we`re able to share our stories and understand where each other are coming from, the more likely it is we are able to support one another," Patti Orzel, a volunteer with the Waukesha County Democrats said.

That leads to the next shift Lee has noticed.

In a polarized political environment, any given voter most likely has strong opinions about both Gov. Walker and President Barack Obama.

Yet both men have claimed victories in Wisconsin.

"We take nothing for granted and we understand in a place like Wisconsin, you have to fight for every vote and we take that seriously and that`s part of the reason we started this campaign last year," Fadness said.

Lee says now, the parties aren't focusing as much on persuading undecided voters. Instead, it's about identifying likely supporters, and then getting them out to the polls.

"That`s going to be a huge part of our effort because we also know from looking at statistics, that Democrats tend not to come out in years that aren`t presidential races, so getting the vote out is definitely something we`re going to be working on," Orzel said.

Both parties believe covering the most ground with the most personalized message will be key to turnout, and ultimately, victory on November 4th.

"Wisconsin is winnable if you just get your voters to the polls,  and so that`s why we`re seeing much major field office efforts," Lee said.

Across Wisconsin, Democrats have nine field offices and 12 county headquarters. The Republicans have 17 field offices and three county headquarters.