Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg has emerged as the winner in an election billed as the first skirmish against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s heavy-handed union busting tactics. Her margin of victory over conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser was incredibly slim and will almost certainly be subjected to a recount.
Attorney JoAnne Kloppenburg has declared victory over incumbent state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser.
According to unofficial results, Kloppenburg had 204 more votes than Prosser. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Kloppenburg had 740,090 votes, or 50.01 percent. Prosser had 739,886 votes, or 49.99 percent. Final results could change and aren’t official until they are canvassed and certified by the Government Accountability Board.
Campaign spending by interest groups broke all previous records for a Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Tuesday’s contest was widely considered a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s moves to weaken public employee unions and a test of the political strength of the unions to strike back.
The race also was being watched around the country as the first test of a coordinated move by Republican governors to cut state spending and undercut public employee unions, traditionally strong supporters of liberal and Democratic candidates.
Next on the menu, recall of 8 Wisconsin GOP senators.
La Crosse area Democrats have filed a petition with more than 21,700 signatures calling for a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, one of eight Republicans targeted for his support of a controversial bill to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers.
Update [2011-4-7 23:15:17 by Indianadem]: A strange and unfortunate turn of events has placed the incumbent in the lead. StevenD reports in detail over on the FP. Related story from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135221696/wis-corrects-vote-count-gives-incumbent-big-lead?ft=1&f=1001
