Despite going the other way for the commander in chief, all of these states have voted solidly Republican across the board for state offices. In fact, all four currently have Republican governors and Republican majorities in both chambers of their legislatures. With GOP locks on the statehouses, these places are hotbeds of conservative legislative experimentation and thus good testing grounds to see how policy proposals could work on the campaign trail across the country.

The importance of the Great Lakes region is already starting to push itself to the forefront of party politics at right-of-center receptions and fundraisers, where Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan are regular keynoters. The growing national profile of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is also relevant as they tip their toes in the water to gauge their potential appeal on a national ticket. Both have returned fiscal health – and large budget surpluses – to industrial states hit extra hard by the Great Recession.

Instead of running to a southern safe zone such as Texas for the next party convention in August 2016, the Republican National Committee should head to one of these northern states to establish a foothold and generate local enthusiasm somewhere that is a potential new pickup on Election Day.