Walker vs Barrett Recall Battle Referendum On Obama's Economic Policies: Will Shape America's Future

My thoughts on today's Wisconsin Recall race:

I think Scott Walker will Win by a nose & due to the lingering High Unemployment Numbers, Walker's Victory will be viewed by many in the Political arena as a Referendum on Pres. Obama's Economic Policies.

Why?

Because even Hardcore Democrats want to WORK and Properly Provide for their Families.
Are We Better Off Now Than We Were 4 Years Ago?

If You are a Wall Street Executive, Billionaire or Millionaire: YES!

But if you are a Middle Class or Low Income Citizen: NO! WORSE!

Republicans in Congress can't be blamed for all that Ails America's Stagnant Economy when Congressional Democrats were in Power for almost 2 Years (Both Chambers) and basically just sat on their hands!

So in essence the Wisconsin Recall race can be perceived as a Snapshot of this November's General Election.

Pres. Obama can still eke out a Win but he will cross the finish line Badly Bruised & Battered by Romney's camp.




Round 2: Walker and Barrett stake out opposing positions

The recall election will be over June 5, but its shadow could stretch for years.

Voters will have to decide whether to support Gov. Scott Walker or to dump him from office after less than a year and a half in favor of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the candidate they rejected for the job in 2010. On jobs, taxes, education, health care and unions, the candidates are already marking out positions that differ sharply.

Brett Healy, president of the conservative think tank the MacIver Institute, says the fundamental difference between the candidates is that Barrett hasn't said how he would have budgeted differently from Walker.

"It's a fundamental question that should be part of this debate," Healy said.

David Riemer, a former top administrative and budget officer for Democrats in both the state and the city of Milwaukee, said the difference is that Walker is focused on holding down or cutting taxes and helping corporations to the exclusion of all other concerns, such as the quality of public services.

"The basic difference is between someone who has a balanced approach to government and someone who has one thing to say," said Riemer, who also ran unsuccessfully against Walker while he was still county executive.

In his own words, Walker talks about the role of government by emphasizing limits on it.

"Government is there to do things that we can't do on our own," Walker said. "For the most part, it's supposed to stay out of our lives. It's why the state constitution here in our state says modesty and frugality in government leads to freedom and prosperity."

For his part, Barrett sees state government as also creating opportunities.

"Government is there to make sure we protect our liberties, that we have public safety, education . . . roads, transportation," Barrett said. "It's to make sure we have a civilized society where everyone has an opportunity and people are respected."

Here's a breakdown on the differences between the candidates:

JOBS

Walker passed a series of bills focused on the state's economic climate in January 2011, including a measure to limit liability lawsuits and another bill to turn the state Department of Commerce into the quasi-public Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

"We want to move forward because we've set the table for tremendous job growth and prosperity," Walker said. "Unfortunately, our opponents want to go exactly the opposite way."

Walker said he wants to hold down costs for businesses from taxes and regulations and promote skilled workers in the labor market and good infrastructure.

Walker campaigned on creating 250,000 jobs in his four-year term and so far, according to numbers released early by his administration, the state created 23,321 jobs in 2011. A separate set of numbers that is considered an inferior measure by economists shows the state lost jobs and ranked worst in the nation last year.

Barrett has said that Walker is failing on his jobs promise and has harmed the economic climate by stirring up political turmoil and by stifling growth in renewable energy such as the wind industry.

"By starting that ideological civil war, he took his eye off the goal, which was the creation of jobs," Barrett said.

The mayor has also criticized Walker for cutting the state's technical colleges; failing to pass a bill to promote venture capital funding; and turning down more than $800 million in federal funds for a passenger rail line between Madison and Milwaukee.

Barrett has said that he's been successful in promoting jobs in a poverty-stricken community through efforts such as the redevelopment of the Menomonee Valley. Walker has responded that Barrett has failed to create jobs in the city of Milwaukee, where the labor market ranks poorly compared with other large cities.

The mayor said that, though he would work immediately on economic development, he didn't expect to seek new legislation on jobs until the Legislature returns in 2013.

TAXES

On state taxes, Walker says that with lawmakers he managed to hold them in line while balancing a $3 billion budget shortfall over two years, largely with spending cuts. Walker touts the fact that local property taxes on the median-valued home in the state have also dropped just slightly under his watch because he and lawmakers put tight limits on local government levies.

Walker and the Legislature also approved tax decreases for businesses, including for multistate corporations, and another major decrease for certain manufacturers and farmers that will ramp up in the coming years. Going forward, Walker wants to cut the personal income tax, saying that it's too high and is stifling economic growth. He did not say where he would get the money to do that.

"I'd try to do it across the board. I think if you want to have relief, you want a cross section of consumers around the state so it would have the biggest impact," Walker said.

Barrett has said he doesn't want to raise taxes beyond the levels they were at when Walker took office. He said he would look at undoing some tax cuts passed by Walker, including the business tax cuts mentioned above, since he says they've been ineffective in creating jobs. He said he would consult with businesses to ensure the changes are not unduly harmful, but he has not said which taxes he might raise.

"I'm going to be very mindful of the cost of these because they explode in the out years," Barrett said of Walker's tax cuts.

Barrett has criticized Walker's property tax caps but has not said whether he would loosen them or by how much. The mayor wants to restore tax credits for low-income families that were eliminated by Walker and Republican lawmakers, saying the governor broke his no tax increase pledge to the neediest families.

He has not said where he would get the money to do that.

EDUCATION, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

To balance the budget, Walker cut roughly $1.3 billion over two years in state money going to K-12 schools, the University of Wisconsin System, technical colleges and municipal governments.

The governor also repealed most collective bargaining for most public workers and then increased their health and pension contributions, effectively lowering their take-home pay. That saved the state and local governments more than $750 million.

In the next budget, Walker said he would like to see state aid to schools rise slightly if the state budget allows it.

"It certainly wouldn't go down, and it would probably have a slight increase," Walker said.

Barrett said that it would be unlikely that he would make changes in the current budget, which goes through June 2013. But if he succeeded in boosting the economy and tax revenue, he said he would try to increase funding for schools in the next two-year budget that he would submit in February 2013.

"We don't know the dollar amount. What we're going to do between June and January is create jobs in the state, and it's our hope in January we'll have a much better handle on what to do to reverse his cuts to education" and health programs, Barrett said last month.

Barrett said he would keep in place the higher employee contributions for health care and pension benefits that make up the bulk of the savings for taxpayers that Walker has touted. Barrett has achieved millions of dollars of savings of his own in Milwaukee by working to require city employees to make similar contributions, even if they weren't covered by Walker's union law.

HEALTH CARE

Walker provided about $1.2 billion more in state money over two years for the state's health care programs for the needy. But that wasn't enough to keep pace with rising costs, so the administration also made cuts to the BadgerCare Plus program taking effect July 1. Those cuts will lead to sharply higher premiums for tens of thousands of participants and more than 17,000 leaving the program or being turned away.

Barrett has said that he wants to undo those changes before they take effect. But said he doesn't yet know what changes that would take by lawmakers or where he would get the money.

On the federal health care law, Walker has suspended work on and returned a $38 million grant to plan for implementing an exchange in Wisconsin where consumers and small businesses could buy health insurance, in some cases with a federal subsidy. If Wisconsin doesn't have its own plan in place to do that by Jan. 1, 2013, the federal government could impose its own in 2014.

Barrett said he would restart the work on the exchange to make sure that Wisconsin is prepared to implement its own exchange and the state doesn't have a federal system imposed on it.

LABOR

Both Walker and Barrett said that going forward they didn't anticipate raising or lowering the increased amounts that public employees now pay for their pension and health care benefits.

Barrett has said he wants to restore union bargaining for public employees that was repealed by Walker and Republican lawmakers. He said he was focused on that and hadn't considered what to do about cases where the repeal of union bargaining has allowed the state to save on overtime costs or allowed schools to save money by bidding out their health insurance.

Walker has been adamant that those changes have been good for taxpayers.

Democrats have questioned whether Walker wants to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state in which employees in private companies could not be required to pay union dues. Walker has said he would do "everything in my power" to prevent a right-to-work bill from reaching his desk but has not said whether he would sign it.

Barrett has said he opposes right-to-work legislation and would veto it.


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Sources: CNN, Daily Beast, Intrade, Milwaukee Sentinel, Youtube, Google Maps

Gov. Scott Walker Vs. Wisconsin Democrats In 2012: His Recall Is Imminent!

Gov. Scott Walker’s recall remains the big goal for Wisconsin Democrats


The recall elections in Wisconsin on Tuesday night were not just a Democratic attempt to take back the state Senate. They were a dry run of sorts for Democrats’ big goal: Recalling Gov. Scott Walker (R) in 2012. Even though they fell short this week, activists say the Walker recall effort is still on.

Walker could not be targeted earlier, because state law mandates that an official be over a year into a term before he or she is eligible for recall.

The Democrats’ argument: These were Republican districts, and Democrats still won two of them. They came within a couple thousand votes of a major victory. Statewide, against a higher-profile target, they would do better, they say.

“We outperformed Scott Walker in every district,” said Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zilenski. “He is totally vulnerable, he is totally exposed.”

It’s mostly true. Defeated state Sen. Dan Kapanke’s district was trending blue. Sen. Randy Hopper’s district was more conservative, but he was plagued by personal scandals that had little to do with the collective bargaining legislation that sparked the recall fight.

These districts all went for Obama in 2008. They are hardly deep-red seats. But they also all went for Walker in 2010. These incumbents also all survived a huge Democratic wave — state senators elected in the 2010 Republican wave would likely be weaker rivals.

FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver found that if you extrapolate from these results, a recall vote on Walker would be in­cred­ibly close. Democrats also won working-class white voters, an encouraging sign.

And Walker remains unpopular. The latest Badger Poll from the University of Wisconsin finds that 59 percent of voters disapprove of his performance.

Republicans, unsurprisingly, say that the recall push has already failed. ”The message was loud and clear on Tuesday — Wisconsin voters are looking forward, not backward,” Wisconsin GOP spokesman Katie McCallum said. “We’re not sure how many times Democrats are going to make voters go to the polls before that’s clear.”

Zilenski argued that as Walker’s policies take effect, those numbers will only get worse: “No one has felt the hurt yet. The awful things in this budget has not been felt yet. People are not going to go back home and forget that this guy is out there sticking it to them.”

As far as when the actual recall effort will begin, Walker’s foes are a little vague. Some suggested they would start early to avoid gathering signatures in the snow; others said they would have to wait and see what grassroots activists wanted to do.

Some labor organizers say are already working on a less election-oriented, more year-round mobilization effort. But there’s also another showdown between labor and conservatives in the Midwest this fall.

In Ohio, one referendum question on the ballot would overturn the anti-collective bargaining legislation of Gov. John Kasich (R) and another would exempt the state from the individual mandate in the health-care law.

For now, We Are Wisconsin, the labor coalition behind a lot of the recall campaign effort, is focused on making sure that the two Democratic state senators facing recalls next week don’t lose.

“We’ll have plenty time to figure out later what a Walker recall will look like,” communications director Kelly Steele said. “My sense is that he will be on the ballot next year and he won’t keep his job. But the focus right now is on the Democratic state senators. We’re not done with these recalls.”


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Sources: Democracy Now, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Democrats Still Planning To Remove Scott Walker In 2012 (Union Backlash!)

Wisconsin Recall Election Results Could Reverberate In Other States

A stand by Wisconsin Republicans against a massive effort to oust them from power could reverberate across the country as the battle over union rights and the conservative revolution heads toward the 2012 presidential race.

Democrats succeeded in taking two Wisconsin state Senate seats away from Republican incumbents on Tuesday but fell one short of what they needed to seize majority control of the chamber.

Republicans saw it as a big win for Gov. Scott Walker and an affirmation of his conservative agenda, the hallmark of which has been his successful push to strip most collective bargaining rights from public workers.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin said Wednesday that despite falling short Tuesday night it is still pushing ahead with its plans to recall Walker next year.

"Barely scraping by on their own turf is an incredible sign of weakness for Gov. Walker and Republicans," party chairman Mike Tate told the Wisconsin State-Journal. "The historic gains made tonight to restore balance and accountability to our state, and restore Wisconsin values, will continue when the entire state weighs-in on the November 2012 elections -- and with the recall of Scott Walker himself."

Walker told The Associated Press on Wednesday that even though his party managed to retain control of the Legislature, he thinks the recall election results show that voters want both parties to work together on jobs and the economy.

"People still want us to focus on those two priorities," Walker said. "They want us to work together."

Walker said he planned to meet soon with leaders from both parties to discuss areas where they could work together. The invitation was greeted with skepticism from Assembly Democratic Minority Leader Peter Barca.

"It's bipartisan action, not bipartisan rhetoric that people are looking for," Barca said.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who will preside over a razor thin 17-16 GOP majority should two Democratic senators manage to win their own recall elections next week, echoed Walker's talking points.

"Republicans are going to continue doing what we promised the people of Wisconsin – improve the economy and get Wisconsin moving back in the right direction," Fitzgerald said in a prepared statement after the victory.

Democrats and union leaders tried to make the best of the historic GOP wins. There had been only 13 other successful recalls of state-level office holders nationwide since 1913.

"The fact of the matter remains that, fighting on Republican turf, we have begun the work of stopping the Scott Walker agenda," said Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate.

Phil Neuenfeldt, the president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, said voters sent a message that there is a growing movement to reclaim the middle class.

"Let's be clear, anyway you slice it, this is an unprecedented victory," he said.

Still, it was far less than what Democrats set out to achieve. And while they still plan to move ahead with recalling Walker, maintaining momentum for that effort, which can't start until November, will be difficult.

Sen. Luther Olsen, one of the four Republicans who won, said he hoped the victories would "take the wind out of the recall for Walker, but I'm not sure."

Tate, the Democratic Party chairman, said Wednesday that Democratic gains showed how vulnerable Walker is and that the recall effort would continue with the election taking place in November, timed to coincide with expected high Democratic turnout in the presidential race.

Walker said he would "leave it up to the pundits to decide" what the recall elections meant for efforts targeting him, but he believed he ultimately will be judged on whether he can fulfill his campaign promise to create 250,000 jobs in the state over four years.

Four Republican senators held on to their seats Tuesday. They were Olsen and Sens. Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Rob Cowles of Allouez, and Alberta Darling of River Hills. Two Republicans – Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Dan Kapanke of La Crosse – were defeated. Former deputy mayor of Oshkosh Jessica King beat Hopper and Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Shilling beat Kapanke.

A ninth senator, Democrat Dave Hansen of Green Bay, won his recall election last month.

Collectively, more than $31 million has been spent on the recalls, largely from outside conservative groups, unions and others.

Republican and Democratic strategists were leery of reading too much into the results heading into next year's campaign in which Wisconsin is expected to be a key swing state.

Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said the results could provide "some early radar warnings" about the 2012 races, and that he expects the conservatives "to fight back like an angry badger."

Lehane said Wisconsin's tumultuous year since November's elections has been a microcosm of the current "rollercoaster" era of U.S. politics.

Wisconsin voters had mixed emotions about the necessity of the recalls.

Wayne Boland, 41, a Whitefish Bay man who works in marketing for a medical equipment maker, said he voted for the Republican Darling "not because I entirely agree with everything the Republican Party has done or the governor" but because they're working toward addressing the state's problems.

Republicans won control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office in the 2010 election just nine months ago.

Democrats had hoped enough wins in the recalls would have allowed them to block the Republican agenda, but the GOP will hold on to their majorities that have allowed them to rapidly pass bills through the Legislature.

The elections were also closely watched in other states undergoing similar partisan battles.

A coalition of unions and labor-friendly groups fighting a Wisconsin-style collective bargaining overhaul in Ohio said the outcome of the recall elections will have little bearing on whether Ohio's law is repealed this fall.

The effort in Wisconsin was about recalling specific Republicans who voted for the anti-union bill while the push in Ohio is about repealing the law itself. That makes it difficult to compare the two states, said We Are Ohio spokeswoman Melissa Fazekas.

Supporters of the Ohio law also are distancing their state from the fight in Wisconsin.

"We're not focused on Wisconsin, and Ohioans aren't looking to another state to tell them where they should stand," said Jason Mauk, spokesman for Building a Better Ohio, a group defending the collective bargaining law.

Ohioans will vote Nov. 8 on whether to accept or reject the union-limiting law signed by Republican Gov. John Kasich in March that limits bargaining rights for more than 350,000 police, firefighters, teachers and other government employees.

Unlike Wisconsin, Ohio's Constitution makes no provision for recalling elected officials.


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Sources: CBS News, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps

Progressives Are Angry At Obama But He's Lesser Of Two Evils! Obama Or GOP's Tea Party?

Where ya gonna go?

Ed Kilgore has a thoughtful piece in Salon about why liberal elites are so angry and why they have so little influence on the White House. It's the numbers, basically. president Obama still has the support of the vast majority of the Democratic party and the activist liberal base is unlikely to sit out the election. (And even if we did, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference.)

He brings up something in this that I think is an overlooked piece of this puzzle and one which I tried to write about in 2008 but the environment was so hostile that I gave it up:

Next time there is an open Democratic presidential nomination contest, the organized left will almost certain to make far greater ideological demands on candidates, and make a far less speculative choice of a favorite, than it did in 2008.

It will be unlikely that we'll ever have the kind of leverage we had in 2008, with two candidates neck and neck for the nomination up to the very end and a totally pathetic opposition, unfortunately. But if liberals had resisted the urge to turn that primary into a season of American Idol, there might have been a chance to shape the administration in ways that would be difficult for him/her to escape.

Spilled milk. And for a variety of reasons 2012 is not a hospitable election for a primary challenge, regardless of how disappointed liberals are in the president. But the activist base and elite liberals are the tip of the spear.

Being honest about what we see still has a purpose: to keep liberalism alive, motivate the base for other elections, build the progressive movement. And the activist base and liberal elites will have a hand in determining the president's legacy. Once he's done catering to these alleged Independents who want nothing more than to slash government to the bone, he's going to start thinking about that.




There’s Still More To Life Than The President

Via Nicholas Beaudrot, Digby laments that progressives didn’t extract more cheap talk from Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton:

It will be unlikely that we’ll ever have the kind of leverage we had in 2008, with two candidates neck and neck for the nomination up to the very end and a totally pathetic opposition, unfortunately. But if liberals had resisted the urge to turn that primary into a season of American Idol, there might have been a chance to shape the administration in ways that would be difficult for him/her to escape.

I really think it’s remarkable how fixated people are on the president and the presidency. Let’s just concede, for the sake of argument, that Barack Obama is history’s greatest monster. But let’s just imagine that the Senate voted by majority rule and that the median House member and the median Senate member both had the same stated policy preferences as Barack Obama, history’s greatest monster.

Relative to the status quo, under my scenario we would have had:

— A public option in the Affordable Care Act.
— A nationwide carbon pricing plan.
— A path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
— A nationwide “card check” unionization law.
— A larger stimulus in 2009, plus additional stimulus in 2010.

That’s a lot! And it’s what would have happened even if Barack Obama was exactly as rotten and unprogressive as the actually existing Barack Obama. All it would take to get to that world would be to make the people occupying the legislative pivot points as rotten as horrible as President Obama, a bar that left-wing critics of Obama keep assuring me is a low bar.

So how come we can’t do it? It’s important for people not to let their frustrations with things Obama has done, is doing, or will do confuse them about the historical record.

The overwhelming story of American politics in 2009 and 2010 was of Congress refusing to enact progressive measures that, had they passed Congress, would have been signed into law.

If progressives failed during the leadup to the 111th Congress, the failure that really mattered was the failure to elect a more progressive Congress, not the failure to elect a more progressive president.

And it’s going to be difficult to get further policy change unless people correctly understand what the sticking points are. The right has an impressive ability to focus on the full spectrum of things that matter, pouring millions of dollars into state legislative races while I think the left remains morbidly obsessed with the desire to hear different presidential speeches.






Republicans take 4 of 6 in recall elections, hold Senate

Democrats won two state Senate seats in Tuesday's historic recall elections, but failed to capture a third seat that would have given them control of the chamber.

By keeping a majority in the Senate, Republicans retained their monopoly on state government because they also hold the Assembly and governor's office. Tuesday's elections narrowed their majority - at least for now - from 19-14 to a razor-thin 17-16.

Republicans may be able to gain back some of the losses next week, when two Democrats face recall elections.

Democrats had hoped to block the Republican agenda by taking control of the Senate in the recall elections, but the GOP should be able to continue to advance its agenda.

"I think it's a huge victory for us," said John Hogan, director of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate. "Voters gave us a mandate last fall. . . . They backed us up again (Tuesday). Voters told us loud and clear, 'Stay the course. Things are working.'"

But Democrats claimed victory for the two seats they captured from Republicans.

"We went on their turf and we won on Republican turf," said Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party. "We will not stop, we will not rest . . . until we recall (Gov.) Scott Walker."

Republican Sens. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Randy Hopper (R-Empire) were both defeated by their Democratic challengers, Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) and Democrat Jessica King of Oshkosh.

"I look forward to going to Madison to stand up for the working families, seniors and students of Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Blackwolf, Waupun and all across the 18th district," King said in a statement. "Their voices will be once again heard."

Three other Republicans held onto their seats, despite aggressive campaigns put up by their Democratic foes and outside groups backed by unions. Surviving the recalls were Republican Sens. Alberta Darling of River Hills, Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Luther Olsen of Ripon and Rob Cowles of Allouez.

Darling was declared the winner over Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) late Tuesday.

Democrats called for the recalls after Walker launched his plan to eliminate most collective bargaining for public workers, and Tuesday's races were seen as a preview of a plan to force a recall of Walker next year.



Tuesday's recalls were launched in March, during the turmoil in Madison over Walker's plan, ultimately successful, to curtail collective bargaining by most public employees. Democrats tried to recall Republicans for that vote, while Republicans tried to recall Democrats for leaving the state for three weeks to block a vote on the issue.

Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) was the first to face a recall election, and he easily survived the challenge last month.

Attention now turns to next week's recall elections, against Democratic Sens. Jim Holperin of Conover and Bob Wirch of Pleasant Prairie.

"It's encouraging to see, even though a couple Republicans lost their seats, the recall process holds as a check for those who disrespect their office and not simply do their job and take a vote," said a statement from Holperin's challenger, Kim Simac. "Next week we will recall a senator who was actually derelict in his duty by failing to represent his district when he fled to Illinois."

Turnout levels in Tuesday's elections were substantial, approaching those of last fall's governor's race - a striking testimony to the extreme passions, money and attention these contests have attracted this summer.

In one contest, for the 10th district seat won Tuesday by GOP incumbent Harsdorf, the total vote exceeded that of the race for governor last fall.

Voters were mobilized by massive get-out-the-vote efforts on both sides, and by expensive television and radio advertising campaigns that flooded the airwaves in all six districts. At least five of the elections broke the $3 million spending record, set in 2000, for money spent by all parties in a Senate race.

Expensive campaigns
So far more than $35 million has been spent on the recall races, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks political money. The spending on the nine races dwarfs the $19.3 million spent in last year's 115 legislative races, and approaches the $37.4 million spent in the race for governor.

The flow of money came as unions saw the recall elections as the best way to halt Walker's agenda and to send a message to other states considering changing their collective bargaining laws. Political observers are watching Wisconsin to see what the results say about the mood of the electorate leading up to next year's elections for president and Congress.

Unions played a huge role for Democrats by spending vast sums of money on advertising, and supplying manpower in all the Senate districts. Conservative groups have parried with their own influx of cash.

But the Democrats' argument in the recalls morphed over time from concerns over collective bargaining to objections to a number of GOP initiatives - most notably cuts to education and tax breaks for the wealthy - and the complaint that the changes were pushed through without enough public discussion.

Republicans countered that argument by insisting that voters - who just last November flipped both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office from blue to red - had sent them to Madison to balance the budget and get control of state spending. "Elections have consequences," was the often-repeated slogan.

The wave of recall elections is unparalleled in the nation's history. Before this year, there had been just four recall elections of Wisconsin lawmakers. Two incumbents were recalled, while two survived the efforts. One of those who won his recall election was Holperin, who was in the Assembly in 1990 when a recall effort was launched because of his stance on Indian fishing rights.

Democrats cried foul over returns that came in late from Waukesha County in the Darling-Pasch matchup. Tate, the party official, alleged Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus was "sitting on ballots" and "tampering with the results." Later, though, he said he would not pursue questions of irregularities.

Nickolaus enraged Democrats in April when she discovered votes from Brookfield that helped Supreme Court Justice David Prosser win re-election.

Here's how the races played out:

32nd District: From the beginning of the state Senate recalls that have preoccupied Wisconsin politics for the past five months, Kapanke, 63, had been identified as the Republican most likely to be thrown out of office, and he was Tuesday.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said Shilling's victory was a rebuke to Republicans.

"The people of the 32nd Senate District sent Gov. Walker and his legislative Republicans rubber-stamps a clear message today: they've had enough of the GOP's extreme agenda that favors wealthy special interests and large out-of-state corporations at the expense of Wisconsin's working, middle class families," read a statement Barca issued.

Kapanke's district has been trending increasingly Democratic, including a win by President Barack Obama with 61% of the vote in 2008. .

18th District: Hopper had been considered, with Kapanke, the other most vulnerable of the six Republicans to being defeated.

Voters in his public-employee-heavy district quickly gathered 22,500 signatures to force the recall.

His opponent, lawyer King, had lost by just 163 votes when they faced off for the open seat in 2008. On top of that, Hopper has had to deal with questions about an ugly divorce, where he lives and a state job for his 26-year-old girlfriend.

But Hopper, 45, a radio station owner, said his two years in office had proved that he and Walker have Wisconsin on the right track to fiscal health, and he was confident about his chances.

"It will be close," he said in recent weeks, "but I've always said, 'more important to do my job than keep my job.' "

That turned out to be true. With just three precincts still out, and those in King's home county of Winnebago, she was up by more than 1,100 votes, and the Associated Press called the race for her.

King, 36, a former Oshkosh alderman and deputy mayor, had predicted that the momentum of dissatisfied workers would put her in office.

14th District: Olsen's district came to be considered the Democrats' best chance to pick up a third Republican seat to give them control of the Senate. But Olsen, 60, held on to squeak by his opponent, Rep. Fred Clark (D-Baraboo).

Clark, 52, was the first Democrat Olsen's ever faced in the 16 ½ years he's been in office - an indication of how Republican his district has been over the years.

Still, spending in the race was second only to that in Darling's 8th District, according to the Democracy Campaign, which estimated last week that $5.5 million was spent in total, both by candidates and outside parties.

The largely rural central Wisconsin district stretches from Wisconsin Dells to Waupaca County. It is traditionally considered GOP turf, with Olsen's home of Ripon laying claim as the birthplace of the Republican Party.

Clark's Assembly district is in the southwestern corner of Olsen's Senate district, and until 2008 had been in Republican hands.

Clark and Olsen often told voters during the campaign that they like each other, turning the race into one that pitted a nice guy against a nice guy. In more than a dozen interviews with voters in Portage and Ripon, few were critical of the candidates personally. The voters had clear views on where the two stood and said they planned to vote even though the election was occurring at the height of summer.

8th District: In by far the most expensive recall race, Darling, 67, was the victor in a tight race with Pasch. Mike Tate, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, had called this seat the "crown jewel" of the recalls, because Darling, as co-chairwoman of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, had helped push through Walker's budget initiatives.

Darling raised well over $1 million for the race, the all-time record for a state Senate candidate in Wisconsin, and the nonprofit Wisconsin Democracy Campaign last week estimated $7.9 million had been spent by both candidates, plus all outside groups - nearly triple the $3 million record for spending on a state Senate race.

Besides Darling's key legislative role, the campaign was made more expensive by the higher advertising rates in the Milwaukee television market. Pasch, 57, was first elected to the Legislature in 2008.

2nd Senate District: Cowles easily defeated Nancy Nusbaum, the former De Pere mayor and Brown County executive. From the first, Cowles had been considered the GOP senator safest from being defeated. He was the final senator to have recall signatures filed against him, and a recent report by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign estimated just $750,000 was spent by all parties on both sides of the race - the smallest amount on any of nine Senate districts with recalls.

Nusbaum, 65, argued that Cowles had changed his political spots to fall into line with Walker's conservative agenda, switching from the moderate image Cowles, 61, had cultivated over 28 years in the Legislature. Cowles said he had not changed and was running on his record as a fiscal conservative who had worked in a bipartisan way on such issues as renewable energy and energy conservation.

10th District: Republican Harsdorf easily beat Democratic challenger Shelly Moore.

Early on, Harsdorf had been considered somewhat vulnerable, but lately she'd been seen as well ahead of Moore, who was making her first run for office.

During the campaign, Moore, 37, of River Falls accused Harsdorf, 55, of betraying working families, public employees, students and seniors. Moore is an English teacher at Ellsworth High School and a member of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union.



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Wisconsin Recall Election Battle Snapshot Of 2012 Elections: Class Warfare! (BRUTAL Race Ahead!)

Wisconsin'S Recall Elections Are A Snapshot Of What We'll Face In 2012. The GOP & Tea Party Are NOT Playing! They're Currently Out Organizing Us & Out Spending Democrats, Liberals, Progressives & Independents. If We Don't Unite, Organize, Mobilize & Outspend Them We Can Just Say Good-Bye To Diversity, Good-Bye To Equal Rights, Good-Bye To Opportunities For Everyone & Hello To Rich Vs. Poor With No Middle Class In Between! Don't Stay Home! VOTE OBAMA IN 2012!!




Republicans take 4 of 6 in recall elections, hold Senate

Democrats won two state Senate seats in Tuesday's historic recall elections, but failed to capture a third seat that would have given them control of the chamber.

By keeping a majority in the Senate, Republicans retained their monopoly on state government because they also hold the Assembly and governor's office. Tuesday's elections narrowed their majority - at least for now - from 19-14 to a razor-thin 17-16.

Republicans may be able to gain back some of the losses next week, when two Democrats face recall elections.

Democrats had hoped to block the Republican agenda by taking control of the Senate in the recall elections, but the GOP should be able to continue to advance its agenda.

"I think it's a huge victory for us," said John Hogan, director of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate. "Voters gave us a mandate last fall. . . . They backed us up again (Tuesday). Voters told us loud and clear, 'Stay the course. Things are working.'"

But Democrats claimed victory for the two seats they captured from Republicans.

"We went on their turf and we won on Republican turf," said Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party. "We will not stop, we will not rest . . . until we recall (Gov.) Scott Walker."

Republican Sens. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Randy Hopper (R-Empire) were both defeated by their Democratic challengers, Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) and Democrat Jessica King of Oshkosh.

"I look forward to going to Madison to stand up for the working families, seniors and students of Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Blackwolf, Waupun and all across the 18th district," King said in a statement. "Their voices will be once again heard."

Three other Republicans held onto their seats, despite aggressive campaigns put up by their Democratic foes and outside groups backed by unions. Surviving the recalls were Republican Sens. Alberta Darling of River Hills, Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Luther Olsen of Ripon and Rob Cowles of Allouez.

Darling was declared the winner over Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) late Tuesday.

Democrats called for the recalls after Walker launched his plan to eliminate most collective bargaining for public workers, and Tuesday's races were seen as a preview of a plan to force a recall of Walker next year.

Tuesday's recalls were launched in March, during the turmoil in Madison over Walker's plan, ultimately successful, to curtail collective bargaining by most public employees. Democrats tried to recall Republicans for that vote, while Republicans tried to recall Democrats for leaving the state for three weeks to block a vote on the issue.

Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) was the first to face a recall election, and he easily survived the challenge last month.

Attention now turns to next week's recall elections, against Democratic Sens. Jim Holperin of Conover and Bob Wirch of Pleasant Prairie.

"It's encouraging to see, even though a couple Republicans lost their seats, the recall process holds as a check for those who disrespect their office and not simply do their job and take a vote," said a statement from Holperin's challenger, Kim Simac. "Next week we will recall a senator who was actually derelict in his duty by failing to represent his district when he fled to Illinois."

Turnout levels in Tuesday's elections were substantial, approaching those of last fall's governor's race - a striking testimony to the extreme passions, money and attention these contests have attracted this summer.

In one contest, for the 10th district seat won Tuesday by GOP incumbent Harsdorf, the total vote exceeded that of the race for governor last fall.

Voters were mobilized by massive get-out-the-vote efforts on both sides, and by expensive television and radio advertising campaigns that flooded the airwaves in all six districts. At least five of the elections broke the $3 million spending record, set in 2000, for money spent by all parties in a Senate race.

Expensive campaigns
So far more than $35 million has been spent on the recall races, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks political money. The spending on the nine races dwarfs the $19.3 million spent in last year's 115 legislative races, and approaches the $37.4 million spent in the race for governor.

The flow of money came as unions saw the recall elections as the best way to halt Walker's agenda and to send a message to other states considering changing their collective bargaining laws. Political observers are watching Wisconsin to see what the results say about the mood of the electorate leading up to next year's elections for president and Congress.

Unions played a huge role for Democrats by spending vast sums of money on advertising, and supplying manpower in all the Senate districts. Conservative groups have parried with their own influx of cash.

But the Democrats' argument in the recalls morphed over time from concerns over collective bargaining to objections to a number of GOP initiatives - most notably cuts to education and tax breaks for the wealthy - and the complaint that the changes were pushed through without enough public discussion.

Republicans countered that argument by insisting that voters - who just last November flipped both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office from blue to red - had sent them to Madison to balance the budget and get control of state spending. "Elections have consequences," was the often-repeated slogan.

The wave of recall elections is unparalleled in the nation's history. Before this year, there had been just four recall elections of Wisconsin lawmakers. Two incumbents were recalled, while two survived the efforts. One of those who won his recall election was Holperin, who was in the Assembly in 1990 when a recall effort was launched because of his stance on Indian fishing rights.

Democrats cried foul over returns that came in late from Waukesha County in the Darling-Pasch matchup. Tate, the party official, alleged Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus was "sitting on ballots" and "tampering with the results." Later, though, he said he would not pursue questions of irregularities.

Nickolaus enraged Democrats in April when she discovered votes from Brookfield that helped Supreme Court Justice David Prosser win re-election.

Here's how the races played out:

32nd District: From the beginning of the state Senate recalls that have preoccupied Wisconsin politics for the past five months, Kapanke, 63, had been identified as the Republican most likely to be thrown out of office, and he was Tuesday.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said Shilling's victory was a rebuke to Republicans.

"The people of the 32nd Senate District sent Gov. Walker and his legislative Republicans rubber-stamps a clear message today: they've had enough of the GOP's extreme agenda that favors wealthy special interests and large out-of-state corporations at the expense of Wisconsin's working, middle class families," read a statement Barca issued.

Kapanke's district has been trending increasingly Democratic, including a win by President Barack Obama with 61% of the vote in 2008. .

18th District: Hopper had been considered, with Kapanke, the other most vulnerable of the six Republicans to being defeated.

Voters in his public-employee-heavy district quickly gathered 22,500 signatures to force the recall.

His opponent, lawyer King, had lost by just 163 votes when they faced off for the open seat in 2008. On top of that, Hopper has had to deal with questions about an ugly divorce, where he lives and a state job for his 26-year-old girlfriend.

But Hopper, 45, a radio station owner, said his two years in office had proved that he and Walker have Wisconsin on the right track to fiscal health, and he was confident about his chances.

"It will be close," he said in recent weeks, "but I've always said, 'more important to do my job than keep my job.' "

That turned out to be true. With just three precincts still out, and those in King's home county of Winnebago, she was up by more than 1,100 votes, and the Associated Press called the race for her.

King, 36, a former Oshkosh alderman and deputy mayor, had predicted that the momentum of dissatisfied workers would put her in office.

14th District: Olsen's district came to be considered the Democrats' best chance to pick up a third Republican seat to give them control of the Senate. But Olsen, 60, held on to squeak by his opponent, Rep. Fred Clark (D-Baraboo).

Clark, 52, was the first Democrat Olsen's ever faced in the 16 ½ years he's been in office - an indication of how Republican his district has been over the years.

Still, spending in the race was second only to that in Darling's 8th District, according to the Democracy Campaign, which estimated last week that $5.5 million was spent in total, both by candidates and outside parties.

The largely rural central Wisconsin district stretches from Wisconsin Dells to Waupaca County. It is traditionally considered GOP turf, with Olsen's home of Ripon laying claim as the birthplace of the Republican Party.

Clark's Assembly district is in the southwestern corner of Olsen's Senate district, and until 2008 had been in Republican hands.

Clark and Olsen often told voters during the campaign that they like each other, turning the race into one that pitted a nice guy against a nice guy. In more than a dozen interviews with voters in Portage and Ripon, few were critical of the candidates personally. The voters had clear views on where the two stood and said they planned to vote even though the election was occurring at the height of summer.

8th District: In by far the most expensive recall race, Darling, 67, was the victor in a tight race with Pasch. Mike Tate, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, had called this seat the "crown jewel" of the recalls, because Darling, as co-chairwoman of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, had helped push through Walker's budget initiatives.

Darling raised well over $1 million for the race, the all-time record for a state Senate candidate in Wisconsin, and the nonprofit Wisconsin Democracy Campaign last week estimated $7.9 million had been spent by both candidates, plus all outside groups - nearly triple the $3 million record for spending on a state Senate race.

Besides Darling's key legislative role, the campaign was made more expensive by the higher advertising rates in the Milwaukee television market. Pasch, 57, was first elected to the Legislature in 2008.

2nd Senate District: Cowles easily defeated Nancy Nusbaum, the former De Pere mayor and Brown County executive. From the first, Cowles had been considered the GOP senator safest from being defeated. He was the final senator to have recall signatures filed against him, and a recent report by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign estimated just $750,000 was spent by all parties on both sides of the race - the smallest amount on any of nine Senate districts with recalls.

Nusbaum, 65, argued that Cowles had changed his political spots to fall into line with Walker's conservative agenda, switching from the moderate image Cowles, 61, had cultivated over 28 years in the Legislature. Cowles said he had not changed and was running on his record as a fiscal conservative who had worked in a bipartisan way on such issues as renewable energy and energy conservation.

10th District: Republican Harsdorf easily beat Democratic challenger Shelly Moore.

Early on, Harsdorf had been considered somewhat vulnerable, but lately she'd been seen as well ahead of Moore, who was making her first run for office.

During the campaign, Moore, 37, of River Falls accused Harsdorf, 55, of betraying working families, public employees, students and seniors. Moore is an English teacher at Ellsworth High School and a member of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union.





Wisconsin recall leaves both sides claiming victory

Democrats in Wisconsin failed to gain control of the state Senate in Tuesday's recall elections, but both Democrats and Republicans are claiming victory in the struggle, which cast Wisconsin as "ground zero in a national class war, partly over the fate of organized labor."

In the unprecedented recall elections against six Republican state senators, four Republican lawmakers won, leaving the GOP with a slim 17 to 16 majority. Two Democrats face recall elections next week, which could bolster the GOP's weakened control.

The recalls were spurred by vehement anger over Republican Gov. Scott Walker's ultimately-successful effort to curb public employees' union rights. The number of lawmakers facing recall elections in a matter of weeks was unprecedented, and national organizations brought millions of dollars and significant organizational support into the mix.

While the recalls were inspired over union rights, the elections morphed into a referendum against Walker's entire Republican agenda, encompassing issues like school vouchers and health care funding. Meanwhile, the recalls were seen as something of a test for the GOP agenda at the national level -- whether Republican leaders could withstand the blowback from taking on unions, particularly in a key battleground state.

"I think it's a huge victory for us," John Hogan, director of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Voters gave us a mandate last fall... They backed us up again."

Similarly, Republican State Leadership Committee President Chris Jankowski called Tuesday's results a "tremendous victory" with larger implications.

"Tonight's results demonstrate that responsible budgeting measures and job creating policies can prevail over mountains of liberal special interest money from those fighting to maintain the unsustainable status quo," Jankowski said in a statement. "By beating back countless liberal special interest dollars and paid supporters, the strength of responsible Republican ideals is obvious and foreshadows continued Republican victories in 2011, 2012 and beyond."

While labor unions and liberal groups did contribute significantly to the recall effort, the Republican senators were also heavily backed by third party interest groups and the national parties.

Democrats and their backers argued that their impressive mobilization efforts showed that labor unions still have voter support, in spite of the GOP's best efforts to limit their influence. The mere fact that they were able to collect enough signatures quickly enough to put six Republicans up for recall suggests the union-backed liberal movement remains strong, they say.

"Beyond Wisconsin, if we can enjoy a similar 'loss rate' in Republican-held districts (picking up 33 percent of them), Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have a huge majority in 2013," liberal pundit Markos Moulitsas wrote. "We had a message that resonated with large numbers of working people in overwhelmingly white working-class districts that shifted hard against Democrats in 2010. GOP overreach is winning them back for us."

Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party, told the Journal Sentinel, "We went on their turf and we won on Republican turf."

Republican Sens. Alberta Darling of River Hills, Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, Rob Cowles of Allouez and Luther Olsen of Ripon all held onto their seats. Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke, while Democrat Jessica King defeated first-term incumbent Sen. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac.

While Democrats did make some gains in Republican-held districts, the New York Times' Nate Silver points out that these elections were in swing districts -- districts that voted for Walker in 2010 but for President Obama in 2008.

Furthermore, extrapolating national implications from Tuesday's elections could be a futile exercise, given the extraordinary and unique political circumstances in Wisconsin, where residents protested for weeks over union rights.

Union rights have been a point of contention in other states like Ohio this year, and some Republican governors, like Rick Scott of Florida and Rick Snyder of Michigan, have left some voters grumbling over their agenda.

While national Republican leaders say the outcome in Wisconsin validates the agendas Republican governors have pursued, Walker suggested Tuesday that he was willing to extend an olive branch to Democrats.

"Earlier this evening I reached out to the leadership of both the Republicans and Democrats in the Assembly and State Senate," Walker said in a statement. "I shared with them that I believe we can work together to grow jobs and improve our state. In the days ahead I look forward to working with legislators of all parties to grow jobs for Wisconsin and move our state forward."

Walker could very well have his own fate in mind, since Democrats intend to hold a recall election against him next year.


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Sources: AP, ABC News, CBS News, MSNBC, Reuters, Wisconsin Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel, Youtube, Google Maps

Wisconsin's 2011 Recall Elections Sure To Eliminate Walker In 2012

Wisconsin Recalls Underway, Could Change Party in Power

Wisconsin's union rights battle is coming to a head Tuesday as six republicans fight to retain their seats.

The entire state may be affected. If Republicans lose five seats Tuesday. Democrats will take control of the Wisconsin senate. Voting in august is a rarity in this country. This summer recall elections opened polls in nine wisconsin senate districts. One democrat retained her seat last week. Two democrats are up for recall next week. And six republicans are fighting for their title Tuesday.

"Were in the spotlight," said Patty Bjorklund, clerk for the village of Webster.

Webster is in the 10th senate district, where the race is contested and turnout is high.

"I would estimate that we would have a 50 percent voter turnout," Father Michael Tupa, volunteer at the Webster's only polling place.

This is in part to an aggressive campaign if calling signing and door knocking. While their may be a high voter turnout here in Webster Wisconsin folks at the polling places say they're sick of the campaigning and ready for this election to be done

"I have gotten numerous letters and people have gotten numerous phone calls the Day before the election." said Father Tupa.

"It's irritating," said Bjorklund. "People are ready for it to be done."

The push for recall elections began when Governor Scott Walker proposed limiting state workers' union rights last winter. The republicans up for recall supported this law. Democrats could take over the senate by winning five of the eight next elections. some Residents said however it's not worth it.

"I think we had an election and we are just setting precedence and it's costing a lot of money for the taxpayers," said Bjorklund.

But with 180,000 signatures on recall petitions some folks including State Senator Bob Jauch said otherwise.

"The bottom line is that citizens have really believe that governor Walker and the republicans have lost touch with Wisconsin values traditions and priorities," said Senator Jauch.

Polls close at 8 p.m. We'll have results online and on Eyewitness News at Ten.




Wisconsin Democrats say likely to recall governor in 2012

Wisconsin Democrats are increasingly confident that efforts to recall the state's Republican governor in 2012 will succeed, a top official said on Wednesday, after the party scored an early win in its battle to unseat Republicans who backed a controversial anti-union law.

Mike Tate, the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said his party's sweep of six unusual primary races on Tuesday night had energized the party's base, and he also expected to seize a majority in the state Senate in August recall elections.

Tate said Tuesday's primary races, where six real Democrats were unsuccessfully challenged by six stealth Republicans running as Democrats, had served as a dry run for the party's get-out-the-vote operation.

"What we're beginning to see is our momentum rolling downhill. Last night was a huge win for us," he said in a conference call with reporters.

He said that would pay dividends in the real recall elections, which begin next week, as well as in next year's general election, where Wisconsin is likely to be a battleground state as President Barack Obama seeks a second term in the White House.

Tate said Governor Scott Walker, who was elected last fall and can't be recalled until he has served a year in office, would likely be forced to defend his seat next fall.

"I have every reason to believe Scott Walker is going to be recalled from office," he said. "He will lose an election if it's held in November 2012, and there is no scenario in which he can be reelected in 2014. His numbers are that bad."

Asked about a potential recall, he said: "The most likely scenario, and one that the Democratic Party will support, is a recall effort of Governor Walker in November of 2012."

UNION DEBATE

The fractious debate over the union measure propelled Wisconsin to the front of a wider national political battle as Republicans who took control of many statehouses in 2010 midterm elections moved aggressively to shrink government and made reining in public unions a top priority.

"The Republican Party of Wisconsin is in a weaker position electorally than anyone could have thought possible in January of this year," Tate said. "They have destroyed any independent voters that came out and gave them a chance last November."

In all, six Republican senators who supported the anti-union measure, and three Democrats who opposed it, will be forced to defend their seats this summer after recall petitions were signed by thousands of disgruntled voters.

The law, which dismantled key bargaining rights for most Wisconsin public sector employees, triggered the biggest opposition demonstrations in the state since the Vietnam War.

The Republicans said the party's unorthodox decision to run six Republicans as Democrats in Tuesday's primaries was needed to buy time for the six targeted incumbents to campaign, raise money and maintain their party's hold on the state Senate.

If Democrats gain just three of the seats at stake in the special summer elections, they will take control of the upper house and have a better chance at thwarting Walker's far-reaching legislative agenda.

Republicans will continue to have a majority in the lower house, or Assembly.


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Real Wisconsin Democrats Defeat "Fake Democrats In Recall Election Primary (Next Scott Walker)

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Fake Democrats lose in Wisconsin primary recalls


All six fake Democrats lost to Democrats supported by the party in primaries Tuesday that are the first in a series of recall elections targeting nine Wisconsin state senators for their positions on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's divisive union rights restrictions.

The winners advance to take on incumbent Republicans targeted for recall on Aug. 9.

The state Republican Party orchestrated the placement of the fake Democrats on Tuesday's ballot, thereby delaying the general election for a month. That gave the Republican incumbents more time to campaign and distance themselves from the turmoil over the union law that they voted to support in March, spurring the recall efforts.

Five of the six winners had at least 65 percent of the vote, based on unofficial results. The sixth, Shelly Moore, had 54 percent.

Moore defeated Isaac Weix, a Republican on the ballot as a Democrat who had previously run twice before and lost as a GOP candidate for the state Assembly. The St. Croix County Republican Party sent emails and paid for phone calls on behalf of Weix, urging Republicans to support him in the Democratic primary.

Democratic Party spokeswoman Gillian Morris said she wasn't concerned about how tight the Moore race turned out to be.

"They were campaigning pretty hard there," Morris said. "That also shows how scared they are of what Shelly Moore can do in a general election against."

State Republican Party spokeswoman Katie McCallum said the results were an embarrassment for Moore but that ultimately Tuesday's elections wouldn't change the approach being taken by any of the incumbents.

Moore, a 37-year-old Ellsworth public school teacher from River Falls in western Wisconsin, said she expected the race to be close given spending on the race from outside interest groups. She said the results won't change her approach toward taking on Republican Sen. Sheila Harsdorf in the general election.

Overall, Morris was buoyed by the election results.

"The voters of Wisconsin have rejected the Republicans' dirty tricks, despite their best efforts to turn out voters in these primaries for fake candidates," she said.

In the 2nd District, former De Pere mayor and Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum, 64, easily defeated fake Democratic candidate Otto Junkermann, an 82-year-old who served as a Brown County supervisor in the 1980s and one year as a Republican in the state Assembly.

Nusbaum, who had 65 percent of the vote with 99 percent of precincts reporting, will face Republican Sen. Rob Cowles in the general election.

In the 32nd District, state Rep. Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse handily defeated fake Democrat James D. Smith, a former county Republican executive committee member also from La Crosse. Shilling, who had 71 percent of the vote, takes on Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke.

State Rep. Fred Clark defeated fake Democrat Rol Church of Wautoma in the 14th District to advance to take on Republican Sen. Luther Olsen. Clark got 67 percent of the vote.

And in the 18th District, attorney Jessica King, 35, defeated John Buckstaff, 81, a retired furniture business owner. King, who had 69 percent of the vote, will face Republican Sen. Randy Hopper.

Tuesday's primaries marked the first of four recall elections during the next five weeks. The six targeted Republicans voted for Walker's bill and the three Democrats fled to Illinois for three weeks to delay a vote on the measure that takes away collective bargaining rights from most public employees.

The stakes are huge. If the Democrats gain three seats, they will take majority control away from the Republicans and be in a position to stop Walker and the GOP's agenda.

Republicans can vote in the Democratic races because Wisconsin has an open primary, raising the possibility of further mischief in the elections. State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said he was concerned Republicans would attempt to vote for the fake Democrats on Tuesday, but he was confident the real ones would prevail.

In Republican Sen. Alberta Darling's district in suburban Milwaukee, several dozen voters waited in line at Glendale City Hall about noon to choose between Democratic state Rep. Sandy Pasch and fake Democratic candidate Gladys Huber.

Pasch won with 67 percent of the vote.

Jim Krivitz, a 66-year-old retired museum executive, called the primary "phony." He said he was voting for Pasch in part to register his disapproval of Darling and her GOP colleagues.

"I don't like the way the current Republican administration is moving precipitously to the right on everything," he said.

Self-described conservative Walter Schoenfeld, 69, said he was voting for Huber to protest the actions of 14 Democratic state senators who fled the state.

"Democrats played like little children," said Schoenfeld, a retired health care administrator. "What's the saying? Elections have consequences. Live with it."

There is a Republican primary in two other races on July 19 and a general election in the Green Bay area with Democratic Sen. Dave Hansen versus GOP challenger Dave VanderLeest. The general election for the other two races targeting Democratic incumbents is Aug. 16.

Also Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin public policy director Chris Taylor emerged from a field of six Democrats to win a primary for a seat in the Assembly representing a portion of Dane County that was vacated by Joe Parisi when he left in April to serve as Dane County executive. Taylor has no opposition in the Aug. 9 general election.


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