The Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Means...With 97% Of The Precincts Counted...A Blow To Walker & Co.
Challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg, a first-time State Supreme Court candidate, is 1,500 votes behind incumbent Justice David Prosser, who had run unopposed in the last cycle, and got 55% of the vote in a four-way primary just six weeks ago.
Then the Kloppenburg campaign caught fire, Prosser got defined as = Walker, and by the time I get up tomorrow morning, she may be ahead.
[Update. With 99% of the precincts in, she's still about 800 votes behind, so a recount and more delay is inevitable.]
Regardless - - she has shaken the Walker regime and its far-right financiers to their foundation.
And Walker's hand-picked successor for Milwaukee County Executive, State Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), lost to neophyte candidate Chris Abele, 61%-39%.
There have to be a number of Walker water-carriers in the legislature who can see the recall handwriting on the wall and will not feel good about standing with Walker and his budget as votes approach.
Stone said he was happy to stand with Walker, voted twice for the 'budget-repair,' union-busting bill, and got 39% of the vote.
Tonight's elections will spur the State Senate recalls and almost guarantee that come early next year, a Walker do-over will make its way onto the statewide ballot.
JoAnne Kloppenburg ran a tremendous race, against huge odds and millions of dollars of right-wing, corporate money. I admire her accomplishment and am in her debt.
4 comments:
it also means 10 more years for Prosser! (Hopefully)
James - any thoughts about hanging up the blog to go back to work in Madison?
It's going to be a long night...
mmm yeah very sweet and all but
she had PILES of cash in her corner in the way of PAC money too, highest spending race in WI history so, you can't just mention the one side having cash - she had cash on her side too. piles.
If the left can't kick serious SERIOUS ass now with all the horse flop going on... if that judicial race wasn't a total landslide even if Kloppenburg had been a two headed creature from the abyss, well...that ain't good. In fact it is really a bad sign for the future.
It didn't matter who she was, it was (as the NYT called it) a referendum against Walker and Co.
So, either there's funky programming in those touch-screen machines (I don't like them but that's not what I "blame" this on at all - just kidding)
OR the "people" of America really want a fascist, ultra-right society. Which is what it really looks like,
You are in the Party, you go ahead and make this not seem terrible.
I am a nasty Troll outsider. I take this unbelievably close race as a total statement on Walker, nihilism, hate, mega-greed, and abuse of power in general - people don't really mind it, and in fact many (Americans) admire it. People loved McCarthy before they hated him. People can make emo-tastic references to the days of unionism but how many people were killed or got their butts kicked over the union movement? Average Joes will gladly pick up a club to keep the guy next to him down. Throw him a few bucks or a promise of preferential treatment, even some small crumb and they'll club away with glee.
In addition (having gone door-to-door working on a recall in my past) LOTS of people will sign the recall papers, telling you they don't know that much to have a firm opinion, or that they will probably not vote once the recall comes and many other types of things.
But they WILL sign because they think it's "the democratic thing to do (as in "democracy" NOT the Democratic party)Getting those signatures is sometimes about the actual issue, and a lot of times it's all about the Nice Well-Meaning Person standing at the door.
So when recall election day comes, after the targeted incumbent has all kinds of opportunity to play victim and has the upper hand in efforts to save his own bacon, after the media spins whatever "he's been humiliated enough" editorials, people buy into that.
The guy can win again, even after all those signatures, Only a Noob assumes all those people signing recall petitions actually will SHOW UP at the polls, and Hell hath no spiteful arrogance like a politician who survives a recall. So these folks with their blog headlines of "Kapanke Recalled" and all that, are driving me nuts. Maybe he will be, maybe he won't be, but way to count those chickens folks. Overconfidence is always dumb. I find this Klop-Prosser race VERY depressing.
Quite the opposite of his latest quote about how he SHOULD HAVE WON SO EASILY, he should have had his ass handed to him on a silver platter by a team of smiling virgins, no matter what kind of moron ran against him.
Exeunt Troll, stage left
Wisconsin has a latest record of costly Supreme Court races. Outside party spent a record $3.4 million in 2008, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, After a quiet 2009 race and no race in 2010, spending this year reached $3.1 million throughout Sunday, and a spurt of last-minute ads was require to bring the total to $3.7 million.
Kloppenburg issued a statement thanking Prosser for his service and vowing to be an impartial judge. Prosser's campaign didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on whether he would seek a recount. In other words, nothing Prosser was screaming about could be printed.....or maybe they were all just ducking for cover.
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