Today is the day we have been working towards. Election Day. The first chance Wisconsin has to send Scott Walker a message at the ballot box.
Turnout is heavy! Normally a good sign for Democrats.
I vote in person on election day. My number tells me a lot about turnout. Todays number 287. It was just over 100 last year in November. Lots of cars in the parking lot and a couple of senior citizens busses, too. No lines. People voted briskly as there were only 4 uncontested races in my precinct.
Chris Abele vs. Jeff Stone for Milwaukee County Executive (Scott Walkers old job)
A nonpartisan race where party affiliation isn't listed, it's always interesting. Jeff Stone has been desparately hiding his Republican affiliation as Scott Walker has done before him. He started the campaign last year by promoting his ties to Walker and his promise to continue the Milwaukee County policies of Walker. Then something happened in Madison (hint: tens of thousands of protestors) and he found himself backpedalling as fast as he could.
Chris Abele was an unknown. I met him the first time on the first day of the Madison protests when he came to personally talk to the nurses and other health care workers and give us his support. He firmly believes in collective bargaining rights. A good thing, for everyone who works for Milwaukee County as I did before I retired.
Joanne Kloppenburg vs. David Prosser for Wisconsin State Supreme Court
Prosser is the incumbant and was expected to win easily. Early in his re-election, he promoted his close affiliation with Scott Walker, even adding that he would "serve as a complement to Walker". Then something happened in Madison (hint: tens of thousands of protestors). It became a real race. He had already accepted public financing for his campaign, so it was up to the monied interests to save the day with the all too familiar patriotic sounding "concerned citizens groups" and their numerous attack ads, robo calls, and, of course, a whisper campaign about Kloppenburg "coming to take away your guns" with a side order of "she's a PETA member and won't let you hunt".
This race is going to be a squeaker. It wasn't expected to be even close, but it is. If Kloppenburg is elected, it will take away the right wing majority on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
There was a contested judicial race in Milwaukee County (Pedro Colon was the labor endorsed candidate) and a West Allis School board race. The rest were uncontested.
Recall at the Polls
The GAB in Wisconsin ruled more than a week ago that recall signatures could be gathered at the polls as long as the recallers stayed 10 feet or more away (it's 100 feet for other activities). And they are being collected. Halfway though the 60 day recall window, the recall efforts have already collected 140% of the signatures to recall State Senator Kapakne (those have already been turned in for verification) and recalls have been proceeding well among the other recallable Republicans.
GOTV for me will continue until about 4 when the next shift comes in (plenty of volunteers today), but I'll continue to pop in for updates, any breaking news, and, once the returns start coming in (polls close at 8PM Central Time), results. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers today. And thanks for your support and interest.
Update #1: Back from the Phone Bank Edition: The next shift came in and we retirees got relieved. Turnout remains amazing according to all who voted before their shift on the phones. Originally predicted to be 20%, then raised to 25%, I have a feeling that it will be larger. There is a lot of energy on both sides, but good turnout is usually good for Democrats.
Normally, I would come home, have dinner, change into nicer clothes and head out to the election party, but tonight I'm all yours. I'll keep everyone updated with as much news as I can get my hands on. Thanks again for your interest and support. Now I'm off to read all your excellent comments.
Update #2: Thanks Jan F Edition: Jan F provided the following link to the Dane County (Madison) election results. I'll post one to the Milwaukee County results later and will live blog from here in Milwaukee County. The link didn't work initially and has been fixed - thanks to all who pointed that out.
Update #3: Walker Gets Caught Again Edition: It wasn't only the mistress of State Senator Hopper who got a job with a big raise, but the son of a major Walker donor who got a job he wasn't qualified for (and also never applied for) with an over $81,000 annual salary (nice payola for a kid with a high school education, no experience, and 2 DWIs). Well, after media exposure, Donor Son, got demoted today and moved to a lower paying job. Enjoy yourselves with this one while we wait for election results.
Update #4: Less than 30 minutes to poll closing. Anyone in line at 8PM will get to vote. There are polling stations running out of ballots and more are being printed.
Update #5: Results Link Just Put Up Edition: Milwaukee area results will be available here. Yes, it's a local television (right leaning, but aren't they all) station, but they gather results from all the surrounding counties and frequently update. It's all available from one page. 2 minutes to poll closing.Updated by Puddytat at Tue Apr 05, 2011 at 08:13 PM CDT
The first precinct to report in is in Madison. 60% for Kloppenburg. Nothing in Milwaukee County reporting yet.
Updated by Puddytat at Tue Apr 05, 2011 at 08:21 PM CDT
1 % of the vote in statewide (Dane and Douglas County precinct - 1 each)
Kloppenburg 59%
Nothing reported for Milwaukee County as of yet.
Update 8:27 PM CST: I'm going to have to do updates this way. The DK "update" function isn't working (and yes, I'm a Cranky User over all the stuff that doesn't work).
2% reporting statewide Kloppenburg: 53%
0% reporting Milwaukee County Abele: 56%.
Update: 8:39 PM CST:
6% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
1% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 40% Stone 60%
Update: 8:53 PM CST:
11% reporting statewide (lots of red districts) - Kloppenburg 49% Prosser 51%
2% reporting Milwaukee County (one red district) - Abele 43% Stone 57%
Most of what is reporting are Republican areas right now. Stay tuned.
Update: 9:07 PM CST:
17% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
14% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 60% Stone 40%
Some Dem areas now reporting
Update: 9:20PM CST:
23% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 49% Prosser 51%
28% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 61% Stone 39%
Update: 9:35PM CST:
32% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
46% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 59% Stone 41%
Most of Milwaukee and Dane County haven't reported in yet. I'm liking the numbers.
Update: 9:49PM CST:
42% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 49% Prosser 51%
60% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 61% Stone 39%
Slow in getting statewide numbers. Many of the smaller counties haven't reported a single precinct yet. Loving the numbers for Chris Abele.
Update: 9:59PM CST:
51% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
90% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 60% Stone 40%.
Abele will speak soon. He is predicted to win. Stone needs to make up around 30,000 votes.
Update: 10:08 PM CST:
Stone CONCEEDED! Chris Abele now being introduced by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as the NEXT COUNTY EXECUTIVE. One down and one to go. Stone got a major ass kicking.
58% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
82% reporting Milwaukee County - County Executive Chris Abele 61% Stone 39%
Update: 10:20PM: Chris Abeles acceptance speech was about "working together" - the theme of his campaign. Best line: "I see the Mayor of Milwaukee as a collaborator and not a competitor."
64% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 49% Prosser 51%
Half of Madison hasn't reported in yet (Madison has been running 71% for Kloppenburg). A spokesperson for her campaign said that this will be tight to the end.
91% reporting Milwaukee County - Abele 60% Stone 40% (the butt kicking continues)
Update: 10:40PM CST:
71% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
The nailbiting continues.
Update: 10:48PM CST: Interesting tidbit: Stone gave his concession speech before he called Chris Abele to concede (WATB). He blames his "lack of money" for losing. Even our Republican leaning local media sees the connection between Walkers actions and this election. Stone denied it had any bearing, saying he was "proud" of his votes.
78% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%.
There has not been even one precinct reporting from the following counties: Fond du Lac, Grant, Pepin, Trempealeau, Washburn or Waupaca. Fond du Lac has a large population.
Prossers co-hort, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas (R) says he feels "confident".
Update: 11:02 PM CST:
84% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 51% Prosser 49%
I'm concerned that the counties I noted above still haven't reported even one precinct. There's no reason for Fond du Lac to not be reporting any results in an election that ended over 3 hours ago. Shenanigans?
Update: 11:11 PM CST:
90% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
Fond du Lac reported all 77 precincts at once (61% Prosser). Pepin reported all 11 precincts at once (53% Kloppenburg). Grant reported 51 of 52 precincts at 57% Kloppenburg. Washburn reported all precincts at 53 % Kloppenburg. Waupaca and Trempealeau still haven't reported any results.
Update: 11:32 PM CST:
93% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% Prosser 50%
Trempealeau reported all precincts (54% Kloppenburg)
Waupaca reported all precincts (59 Prosser)
Seems to be an even split between Democratic areas and Republican areas that are still unreported. Nailbiting getting worse.
Update: 11:56 PM CST:
Looks like DK4 ate my last update.
97% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% (720,421) Prosser 50% (722,836)
All ofWaukesha (red) County has now reported in.
Eau Claire County reporting that they have to hand count ballots because they ran out of the electronic ballots and used hand count ballots instead (good news as Eau Claire has been running 60% for Kloppenburg). 40 of 61 have been reported there.
Update: 12:12 AM CST:
Good news! State Rep. Peter Barca (Democratic Minority Leader) says there are 8000 abscentee ballots being counted in Milwaukee.
97% reporting statewide - Kloppenberg 50% (712,175) Prosser 50% (724,859)
Everyone is expecting a recount. Prossers spokesman just said he's "cautiously optimistic". I'm happy to see them sweat. Remember, Prosser was supposed to walk away with this with no effort. The fact that it's this close can be considered a win. To win would be awesome.
Update: Recall Edition: 12:48 AM:
If the election results show a margin one half of once percent or less, an automatic recount is done.
98% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% (725,534) Prosser 50% (727,440)
A Republican spokesman (Brian Schimming) is at the microphone for the Prosser campaign whining about outside ads hurting Prosser and claiming one was a lie. What he fails to mention is all of the Americans for Prosperity and fake astroturf ads paid for by Koch. He continues to say that they're "cautiously optimistic". He's also blaming "outside groups" for influencing the election (this sucker sounds just like Walker claiming it was outside agitators protesting).
Update: Lost my Internet Edition: 1:16 AM:
Sorry about that. My internet connection was sending, but not receiving for about 10 minutes. Joanne Kloppenburg just left the microphone, announcing that the Associated Press has called the race "too close to call". She encouraged her supporters to go to bed as she didn't expect anything much more to change tonight.
99% reporting statewide - Kloppenburg 50% (732,489) Prosser 50% (733,074).
The remaining votes total about 14,000.
Update: That's All for Tonight Edition: 2:04 AM:
A spokesman for the Republican Party came to the microphone at Prossers "Victory" Party and said they were "mildly confident" about the remaining uncounted votes. He then went on to say the Kloppenburg expected to win and will now be disappointed. What a pile of crap! Then Prosser appeared and, like Kloppenburg, told his supporters to go home and get some rest. He added that "never before had there been such an assault on a persons character" than he suffered during the campaign. "I weathered the nuclear blast and I'm still standing". These guys are such melodramatic drama queens, they should be in show business. They pretend to be strong and capable, but they're really a bunch of snivelling children who like to attack others and then act like they're the victim.
There haven't been any updates on the votes in almost an hour now, so I'm not expecting anything new tonight (or this very early morning), so I'm going to hang it up and crawl into bed myself.
I spent most of my time looking at web sites, catching a few messages, and examining results and didn't have time to catch but a few comments, so I will read them all tomorrow and likely post a brand new diary (it's taking this behemoth far too long to load). Thanks for all of your interest and support. See you tomorrow.