Businessman turned politician wins state with 48% of the vote after all the political professionals, pollsters, and national media under estimated an appeal that did not fall into the comfortable patterns of past campaigns. Victory sweeps along GOP politicians down the ballot.

GREEN BAY - Republican Donald Trump won a stunning upset victory Tuesday in Wisconsin, part of a series of Rust Belt victories that propelled him to the White House.

The Associated Press called Wisconsin for Trump just after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, immediately triggering a projection that Trump would win the national election after he was already declared the winner in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

With 3615 of 3620 or 99% of Wisconsin's Precincts Reporting, Donald Trump had 1,404,869 or 48% of the vote, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton followed with 1,377,880 or 47% of the vote.

To say that these results are stunning is an understatement. As little as two days ago, the Marquette Law School poll had Clinton holding a six-point lead. Based on polling, most political observers thought she was positioned to win the state's 10 electoral votes despite becoming the first major-party nominee since 1972 not to set foot in the state.

UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said Clinton's decision not to visit or invest heavily in the state proved to be a mistake.

"This is one of the only states where the Trump ads outnumbered the Clinton ads," Burden said. "This may have been the only state where her ads were drowned out by his."

Trump campaigned hard in the state, making five visits over the past three months. In the final month his campaign spent nearly $2 million on advertising in the state. Clinton spent nearly $3 million in the state during the last week, but it was too little too late.

The Trump surge across the state also swept along GOP politicians down the ballot. Incumbent Senator Ron Johnson defeated Russ Feingold in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race, and in NE WI's 8th Congressional District Mike Gallagher easily defeated Tom Nelson with a vote of 227,732 (63%) to 135,648 (37%). Green Bay's Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen was an exception with a win.

It is clear that all the political professionals, pollsters, and the national media under estimated the appeal of the businessman turned politician in Wisconsin and across the nation. Trump managed to grab the mantel of change in the minds of many, and the statistical models used by pollsters were based on trends of the past. Donald Trump surprised many, because he was a new media phenomenon that did not fall into the comfortable patterns of past campaigns.

Democratic Party insider loyalty to Clinton had given her the nomination, but never gave her much grass roots support in Wisconsin, where Independent Bernie Sanders had won 71 of 72 counties in the primary.