Wisconsin Recall Update

Well, this is disappointing.

Quote :

WASHINGTON -- Democrats won two Wisconsin state Senate seats in Tuesday's dramatic recall elections, but they fell short of the three needed to take the majority away from Republicans.

Six incumbent GOP state senators were forced to defend their seats on Tuesday in historic recall elections. The efforts to change the makeup of the state Senate came after Republicans passed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) controversial measure stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights.

Even though Democrats weren't able to take back one of the chambers of the legislature, they touted the fact that voters ousted two incumbent Republicans as a major victory.

"The fact we've accomplished as much in six months as had been achieved in the 85 years since recalls were put in the Wisconsin state Constitution is a stunning rebuke to Scott Walker's extreme attacks on middle class working families," said Kelly Steele, spokesman for the labor-backed coalition We Are Wisconsin.

Uh, you guys lost twice as many seats as you won. Not trying to rag on their success here, but seriously, this is pretty disappointing for a state that has a long history of defending workers' rights. Repubs are still going to use this to defend their crazy ass plan to destroy unions once and for all.

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"I think the voters in northwest Wisconsin and in the 10th Senate district have spoken once again to recognize that Wisconsin's on the right track, they want us to get our fiscal track in order, and they want us to grow jobs," said Harsdorf in a post-win interview with WQOW in Eau Claire. "And they recognize the reforms that we've passed are beginning to work, and we have led the nation in changing how government operates."

Yup.

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State Sen. Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) told The Huffington Post earlier on Tuesday that losing two seats would be a "wake-up call to Republicans."

"It creates a 17-16 Senate," he explained. "That means they have no margin of error. They've got to have legislation that all 17 Republicans, without exception, are for."

Well at least there's that. Rather than the GOP's merciless (and tenuously legal) gutting of state workers' rights there will just be endless gridlock. Cullen is glossing over the fact that the sword cuts both ways.

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Three Democrats -- part of the "Wisconsin 14" who left the state for 21 days in order to delay their GOP colleagues from pushing through the bill -- also faced recall elections.

State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) handily won his reelection on July 19. Sens. Jim Holperin (D-Conover) and Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) will face off against their challengers next week.

And it's not over yet....

Yes, the state is very progressive. But this was going to be an uphill slog as the specific State Senate Districts in question were heavily conservative (all 6 of the challenged incumbents were elected in 2008 in the middle of a very big wave of Democratic victories across the entire state).

The fact that 2 of the 6 were knocked out (and 2 others were extremely close) with the local demographics heavily favoring them is a win.

I'm more concerned with the same shenanigans going on in Waukasha County, where the Republican county clerk keeps the vote records on her own personal laptop (in Microsoft Excel, no less) rather than a state-owned machine. She seems to mysteriously "find" votes that swing elections in the direction of Republican candidates.

Waukasha County? Again? Why does this woman still have a job?