“It’s the most important election of a lifetime!”

The same hackneyed line is repeated every four years to the point where its meaning can get lost.

This year, however, in the midst of a global pandemic, record unemployment and a months-long recession, this general election looks poised to live up to its importance.

At the top of the presidential tickets are the incumbent, Republican president Donald Trump, and his Democratic challenger and former vice president, Joe Biden.

The two men couldn’t be more different—one, an intense, unorthodox political outsider that defied the odds to win in 2016, and the other, a reserved, elder statesman of the Democratic Party and former vice president.

On the political landscape, the two also differ greatly.

Trump offers a vision of strict immigration reform including the continued construction of a border wall on the US-Mexico border and the introduction of a merit-based immigration model, maintaining the 2017 tax cuts, repealing the Affordable Care Act, greatly reducing federal regulation of the economy, securing a renegotiated NAFTA and a return to the pre-COVID economy.

Biden offers a vision of tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, a $2 trillion climate expenditure package to combat climate change, expanding the Affordable Care Act by including a public insurance option and lowering the Medicare eligibility age by five years, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and making public colleges and universities tuition free for households making less than $125,000 a year.

Trump, in the run up to November 3, continues to court his ideological base, hoping to recover some of his lost “magic” from 2016.

Meanwhile, Biden continues to keep the focus on cultivating a broad, anti-Trump electoral alliance, spanning from the likes of Bernie Sanders to John Kasich.

As of now, national polling shows Biden with a wide, 8.9 point average lead.

At home, Biden also holds a strong 6.3 point average lead in Wisconsin, with a NYT/Siena College poll released today, showing Biden with a 10-point lead.

The presidential race, of course, is not the only event this November.

Nationally, Democrats look to expand their majority in the US House of Representatives, which they won back in 2018, and flip the Senate blue for the first time since 2015.

Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District, our home district, will see incumbent Republican and former US Marine, Mike Gallagher, face off against Wisconsin Assemblywomen, Amanda Stuck.

At the state level, the Greater Green Bay Area has a handful of State Assembly and Senate posts up for election.

Progressive Democrat and Green Bay School Board member Kristina Shelton, who unseated the incumbent Democrat in August’s primary, looks to keep the State Assembly’s 90th District (Green Bay) blue and stave off a challenge from college student and Republican, Drew Kirkseatter.

In the 88th Assembly District, Democrat Kristin Lyerly looks to unseat five-year assemblyman and incumbent Republican, John Macco.

In the 4th Assembly District, two-term Republican David Steffen will look to fend off Democrat and CEO of the YWCA Green Bay, Kathy Hinkfus.

Lastly, Democrat Jonathon Hansen, nephew of long-time State Senator Dave Hansen, will look to keep the State Senate’s 30th District under the Hansen name in a Republican challenge from US marine and attorney, Eric Wimberger.

Voting in 2020, like seemingly everything else, will be different this year.

Tens of millions of Americans have already voted by mail in what is sure to become an election month rather than an election day.

November 3 is the final day to cast your vote, whether in person or by mail.

For more information on how you can register to vote: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/VoterDeadlines