Community | April 06, 2011 | 29 comments

Wisconsin vote too close to call

source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52628.html#ixzz1IiZCx89P://www.politico.com/news/s...

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letsliveinpeace
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin Supreme Court election that offered the public its first formal opportunity to weigh in on the national fight over union rights was very close as returns poured in Tuesday.

Unofficial returns showed incumbent Justice David Prosser locked in a virtual dead heat with challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Kloppenburg had 673,188 votes, or 50 percent. Prosser had 671,592 votes, or 49 percent.



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An assistant state attorney general, Kloppenburg began her campaign with almost no name recognition and faced what looked like an uphill fight against Prosser.

But her campaign surged in recent days as her supporters worked to focus anger over Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s divisive collective bargaining law onto the conservative-leaning Prosser. The law’s opponents hope a Kloppenburg victory will tilt the Supreme Court to the left and set the stage for the court to strike down the law. Election officials in Madison and Milwaukee have noted higher voter interest in what would have been an otherwise sleepy contest.

The measure strips most public workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights. Walker has said the move is needed to help balance the state’s budget. Democrats say it’s designed to cripple unions, which are among their strongest campaign supporters, and tens of thousands of people spent weeks at the state Capitol protesting the plan.

The law eventually passed, but is on hold as legal challenges make their way through the courts. Many expect the state Supreme Court ultimately will decide the issue.

The seven-member high court is officially nonpartisan. But Prosser, who is seeking a second 10-year term, is seen as part of a conservative four-justice majority. Kloppenburg’s allies have presented her as an alternative that would tilt the court’s ideological balance to the left.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52628.html#ixzz1IiZCx89P://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52628.html#ixzz1IiYzOUl0
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    Supreme Court,  Wisconsin,  Scott Walker,  Backlash,  1 more
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29 comments // Wisconsin vote too close to call

  • August_K
    • +2
      August_K  

    • In other WI news....... (hope this wasn't posted already?)

      Walker demotes son of campaign contributor
      27-year-old had little experience, no college degree

      "Brian Deschane - the 27-year-old son of a prominent lobbyist - was demoted on Tuesday following a public uproar over his appointment to a cushy job earning $81,500 per year working in Gov. Scott Walker's administration.

      But check out the two candidates Deschane beat out to get the position as head of environmental and regulatory affairs in the state Department of Commerce:

      The first, Oscar Herrera, is a former state cabinet secretary under Republican Gov. Scott McCallum with a doctoral degree and eight years' experience overseeing the cleanup of petroleum-contaminated sites.

      The second, Bernice Mattsson, is a professional engineer who served since 2003 in the post to which Deschane was appointed.

      By contrast, Deschane has no college degree, little management experience and a couple of drunken-driving convictions. His father represents a trade group that gave more than $121,000 to Walker and his running mate.

      Herrera and Mattsson didn't get far in the process.

      "Neither candidate was interviewed," said agency spokesman Tony Hozeny.

      On Tuesday, Walker abruptly reversed course and bumped Deschane from his appointed position overseeing dozens of employees at the Department of Commerce. The move comes one day after the Journal Sentinel disclosed details of the appointment."

      http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119283094.html

    • 1 year ago
  • Leen61
  • letsliveinpeace
    • 0
      letsliveinpeace  

    • Well, all the votes are in in Wisconsin. And challenger JoAnne Kloppenberg is up by 204 votes. Here's the latest report.

      Now, bear in mind. There's almost certainly going to be some more adjustments. And you can count on a recount. But there aren't any more collection of votes that are yet to be counted or reported.

    • 1 year ago
  • Leen61
    • +1
      Leen61  

    • UPDATE!

      Amazing! With 99% of precincts reporting, we're winning the Wisconsin Supreme Court race by 447 votes! We have a real chance to defeat Scott Walker's candidate and win a race that pundits thought would be an easy Republican win.

      Republicans declared class warfare against the middle class. In this election, working families fought back -- and we are on the verge of winning.

      Today, we are hosting a special briefing for those like you who have been part of our Wisconsin campaign -- featuring two “Wisconsin 14” leaders.

      Democratic Senate leader Mark Miller and progressive rising star Chris Larson will talk about Tuesday's election and the big recall campaign ahead, plus take your questions. Click here to RSVP for today's briefing, which begins at 12pm Eastern.

      Members of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America made a whopping 96,945 phone calls to targeted voters through our “Call Out The Vote” program this past week. Together, we made the difference in this race!

      Thanks for being part of this important fight. And for being a bold progressive.

      -- Stephanie Taylor, Adam Green, Amanda Johnson, Michael Snook, Keauna Gregory, Jason Rosenbaum, and the PCCC team

    • 1 year ago
  • Schnookums
    • +1
      Schnookums  

    • I still have to say that if this is supposed to show how much might is behind the "progressive" backlash of Walker's policies, this was a sad sad showing. The average turnout for an election of this type in Wisconsin is about 20%. This election brought that up to about 34% of voting age adults.

      34%.

      34%, that's it. And even with that 70% increase in participation, all they could muster was a statistically tie?

      Pathetic.

    • 1 year ago
  • scooter3282
    • 0
      scooter3282  
    • Schnookums:

      You're missing the full political dynamic of this election, Schnookums. For starters, the progressives came out in force for this election which is why the percentage of voters shot up in a usually sleepy Spring election. There is always rampant electoral apathy in every election in every state, but it wasn't with the progressives this time. WI still has plenty of conservative voters who will vote ideology rather than whatever the political atmosphere of the moment may be. There is a blind loyalty for anything conservative in many counties in the state. That's not going to change over night. For a political novice, as Kloppenburg is, to have positioned herself for possible victory against an incumbent judge who has been on the bench for 10 years is rather remarkable. Two months ago there were very few who even knew who Joanne Kloppenburg was. It has been the progressives who have elevated her to the brink of a very large upset. To diminish that is rather short sighted. As I am saying, there are plenty of conservatives who didn't view a vote for David Prosser as a response to Scott Walker in any way. They look to him to rubber stamp the usual conservative judicial agenda concerning the usual hot button items on the conservative mind. I don't think I have to go down that list, do I? For him to be this close to losing his spot on the bench is an example of progressive strides, not of progressives falling short. I have to take issue with your conclusion of "Pathetic". You're just not seeing the whole picture here.

    • 1 year ago
  • Schnookums
  • letsliveinpeace
    • 0
      letsliveinpeace  

    • It was a nail-biter all night long, as the most-watched state Supreme Court April 5 race went into the morning on April 6 with the final result still unclear.

      The AP has the vote totals--50% for incumbent David Prosser and 50% for challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg--with Prosser ahead by 736,878 to 736,043, and some ballots remaining to be counted.

      The race generated historic turnout in Madison and national news
      coverage as it was widely seen as a referendum on Wisconsin Governor
      Scott Walker.

    • 1 year ago
  • Angeliron
  • SoCalFramer
  • SoCalFramer
  • Leen61
    • +4
      Leen61  
    • Image

    • Nothing has changed from where it wound up early this morning. Still 99% of the precincts counted, with Prosser up by the razor thin margin of 585 votes. As Yogi Berra would say, "It ain't over, til it's over." And the Milwaukee Journal predicts it will take most of the day to get the remaining ballots counted and the final ballot count established. This could still go either way, but by WI state law, it is almost a done deal that there will be a recount. The difference is .004% and a recount is automatically triggered by a .05% difference. It could take several days before we know the winner for sure. I will keep you posted as best as I can during the course of the day.

      http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119308059.html

    • 1 year ago
  • August_K
    • +1
      August_K  
    • Image

    • This is still the latest from dailykos.

      We have 99% of precincts reporting and Kloppenburg has cut the margin to 585 votes.

      Hang on to your hats ...

      2:26am (David Nir): 34 remaining precincts. KloJo won the counties these precincts are in by 62-38 so far tonight.
      -------------

      They have some charts showing the counties and percentages.
      There's actually a few charts....so look further down too.
      Posser is only ahead in 2 of them. The biggest ones show he's way behind percentage wise.
      Let's hope it stays that way. Kloppenburg made up a lot of ground so it's looking good for her.

      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/06/963915/-Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-results...#comments

    • 1 year ago
  • ClassicalGas
  • sammykatz
    • +1
      sammykatz  

    • At 4:30 am the race was still too close to call. Todd Richmond, who filed a story for AP, interviewed a 73 year old attorney who stated that he voted for Prosser because he was "concerned about having an activist judge on the court." While I certainly respect one's right to choose, I was disappointed with the rationale regarding the choice. The election, while in Wisconsin, ceased being about local politics with the actions of Gov. Walker: This election is the harbinger of the national elections in 2012, complete with a GOP agenda that is anathema for this country. Perhaps we should start thinking about tearing up the Constitution and sending the Statue of Liberty back to the French--we're well on our way to having our own nation of poor and downtrodden yearning to be free...Here's hoping that the rising sun will bring some much needed good news!

    • 1 year ago
  • Seauvan
  • Warren_Merrill
    • 0
      Warren_Merrill  

    • Here's the county to watch. Although I wouldn't stay up waiting. It's a heavily Democratic county with twelve precincts not reporting yet. I would say it doesn't look good for Prosser excluding absentee ballots. This race is a lot closer than I thought. Most people are somewhat apathetic in April races. But I believed the unions would have a very strong turnout. There's a very good chance of no declared winner and a recount.

      Milwaukee 474/486 reporting

      Prosser 95,129 - 43%

      Kloppenburg 125,090 - 57%

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • tlbuffin
  • sammykatz
    • 0
      sammykatz  
    • tlbuffin:

      While checking out the election results earlier, a pop up ad appeared for Cymbalta: think there's a semi-subliminal answer to your angst. That or have a drink...Here's to a better tomorrow!

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • nanac
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Leen61
  • nanac
  • letsliveinpeace
    • 0
      letsliveinpeace  

    • As of 12:57 am:

      Supreme Court REPORTING 97%
      David Prosser (inc) 720,760 50%
      Joanne Kloppenburg 716,089 50%

      and still a bit more to come... not quite over yet.

      1:11 am:

      Supreme Court REPORTING 97%
      David Prosser (inc) 724,355 50%
      Joanne Kloppenburg 722,518 50%

      .

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
    • 0
      letsliveinpeace  

    • I'm starting to lose count.

      1:27am: I'm counting about 97 outstanding precincts, in counties which Kloppenburg has won by an average of 60% so far tonight.

      .

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • the1union1man2organize
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