At stake, one seat on the seven-seat Supreme Court of Wisconsin. It is a partisan race and will probably be treated as a proxy-battle by both sides of the ongoing budget drama. The candidates are incumbent Justice David Prosser, a Republican, against challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg, a Democrat. The term is for 10 years, and officially runs from August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2021.

It is not clear to me why this election is not scheduled with the "normal" elections in November. Nor, exactly how "liberal" or "conservative" (or whatever) Prosser, Kloppenburg, and the other six justices of that court are, or are perceived to be. But, FWIW, there are currently 3 other Republicans and 3 other Democrats on the court, along with Prosser whose seat is now coming up. So a partisan majority of the state Supreme Court goes to the winner of this election.

Well, it's on. About 13-14% of precincts reporting, and so far it's Prosser 50/51, Kloppenburg 49/50.

Some local races in the Democrat strongholds (Madison, Milwaukee) to help juice the turnout, but nothing else going on in the GOP-strongholds. Prosser's supporters will have to be extra-motivated.

It has to be said -- regardless of the final outcome -- Democrats appear to have succeeded in making this race a proxy-referendum on Governor Walker and the recent drama in Wisconsin's state senate.

What seems to have been lost in all the commentary is that Wisconsin is a pretty blue state. Yes they've had the odd republican here and there, but their republicans tend to lean to the left side of their party, and there have certainly been more D's than R's.

That being the case, for this to be an issue with what looks like no more than a razor-thin majority either way speaks volumes. How does this translate in redder states? And most other states are redder.

Well so much for those evil Koch Brothers buying elections:

Quote:According to the Brennan Center, the largest single advertising underwriter in the campaign -- some $1.4 million so far -- is the Greater Wisconsin Committee. That’s a group largely funded by unions and the Democratic Party, which is committed to defeating Prosser.

Nearly 90% of the precincts in, Kloppenburg up by 1/4 of 1%

People familiar with Wisconsin politics now seem fairly certain that Kloppenburg is going to -- by the skin of her teeth -- come out on top.

Which means that the budget passed by the Wisconsin legislature and signed by the Governor will be declared illegal on a party-line, 4-3 vote sometime later this year.

(04-05-2011 11:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  People familiar with Wisconsin politics now seem fairly certain that Kloppenburg is going to -- by the skin of her teeth -- come out on top.

Which means that the budget passed by the Wisconsin legislature and signed by the Governor will be declared illegal on a party-line, 4-3 vote sometime later this year.

Im almost afraid to ask but is there a recount trigger in Wisconsin?

Hold the phone... Kloppenburg may have been over-counted in Madison by 10,000 votes.

Prosser back in the lead (0.5%). For now.

BIE: Don't know about the recount. Just a pure guess, but I'd say results less than 1% are recounted at least partially. Less than half of 1%? They must be.

(04-05-2011 11:26 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  People familiar with Wisconsin politics now seem fairly certain that Kloppenburg is going to -- by the skin of her teeth -- come out on top.

Which means that the budget passed by the Wisconsin legislature and signed by the Governor will be declared illegal on a party-line, 4-3 vote sometime later this year.

Well now Prosser is up by several thousand with 94% reporting..

Supreme Court REPORTING 94%
David Prosser (inc) 698,973 50%
Joanne Kloppenburg 692,463 50%

Prosser 50.06 (~703k)
Klop 49.94 (~701k)

Not over yet

(04-05-2011 11:50 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Prosser 50.06 (~703k)
Klop 49.94 (~701k)

Not over yet

The precincts still outstanding are in counties that have voted 6-4 for Klop but there are not a whole lot of votes left to be counted..

Prosser 733,074 (50.02)
Kloppenburg 732,489 (49.98)
Prosser +585 (0.04)

34 precincts still out, statewide (out of 3,630). They are almost all in pro-Kloppenburg areas, though. Still not over, and a recount is guaranteed at this point.

The democrats will try to Stuart Smalley this race.

last i heard, Kloppenburg was up by precisely 140 votes. Out of more than 1,460,000 ballots cast, that works out to a margin of less than one-hundredth of one percent.

Wow.

(04-06-2011 12:04 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  last i heard, Kloppenburg was up by precisely 140 votes. Out of more than 1,460,000 ballots cast, that works out to a margin of less than one-hundredth of one percent.

Wow.

Holly $hit. When does the Sec. have to certify the election?

All precincts reported now and Kloppenburg has the lead by 204 votes out of over 1.5 million. So recounts and court battles loom.

Either way, it's a pretty big rebuke of Walker and his policies. Kloppenburg was way behind a couple months ago.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/...hp?ref=fpa

Put this into context. Wisconsin is easily one of the 10 bluest states in the union, perhaps one of the 5 bluest. And on this extreme red vs. blue issue, the margin is virtually a dead heat. How does that extrapolate to the 40-something redder states?

MADISON, Wis. Dateline Nobember 3, 2010 -- Wisconsin has gone from blue to deep red in the midterm elections.

The state was the only in the nation to have a complete Republican sweep, with the GOP winning the governor's office, a senate seat, two congressional seats and control of the state Legislature.

I'd like to know how a 204 votes lead out of over 1.5 million equates to big rebuke of Walker and his policies. 204 votes doesn't mean a mandate.

Ask George Bush about his mandate.