When Wisconsin’s voters went to the polls on Tuesday, April 4, most national news coverage focused on the state’s supreme court election. But there was something else on the ballot worth their attention.

One statewide ballot measure asked voters a “yes-or-no” question: “Shall able-bodied, childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?”

Their answer was clear. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, 1,416,125 voters (79.5 percent) chose “Yes,” while just 364,409 voters (20.5 percent) said “No.”

That’s right. Almost 80 percent of the referendum’s 1.78 million voters backed work requirements. Such a large majority undoubtedly included the votes of Republicans, Democrats, and independents.

While this ballot measure was an “advisory question” and won’t change state law, the people of Wisconsin sent a clear message to their state government. They want a safety net that requires and rewards work. Like social scientists, Wisconsinites know that the combination of work and support provides the best path out of poverty for struggling individuals.

National politicians should heed this referendum’s results. Work requirements are a ballot-tested policy that can win an overwhelming majority in a polarized swing state, where the last two presidential elections were each won by just over 20,000 votes.

Our country is heading towards another election cycle that could be as divisive as the last few. Right now, neither party seems likely to win a unifying majority in 2024.

In large part, that’s because they’re both following what my colleague Yuval Levin rightly calls “a losing strategy.” Leading politicians advance the policy priorities of their respective parties’ core activists, instead of policies appealing to a broad coalition of voters. As a result, they win narrower and narrower victories, and worsen our political divisions.

This strategy isn’t just bad for our country. It’s terrible politics. Levin writes, “The party that grasps that it has been losing for a generation will have a chance to make itself the next big winner in our politics.”

Both major parties could take this chance. Each party could spend money on polls to find unifying policies. But they also have a strong example from last week’s referendum: an 80 percent majority in a state-wide vote is better evidence of support than any public opinion survey.

The results from last week’s referendum show how policies that promote work over welfare can bring together Democrats, Republicans, and independents. If either party wants to build a unifying agenda and a winning coalition, embracing work as the best path out of poverty might be a good place to start.

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