Wisconsin Democrats have
announced three of the four candidates who will carry the party banner in the upcoming state Senate recall elections:
The lineup is largely as expected: Former Sen. John Lehman will run against Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine; Rep. Donna Seidel will run against Sen. Pam Galloway of Wausau; and former Rep. Kristen Dexter will run against Sen. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls.
The Lehman versus Wanggaard contest will be a rematch of 2010, which Wanggaard won by 5.1 percent. There is precedent for a rematch working in the Wisconsin recalls, as back in August Democrat (and now state senator) Jessica King was able to defeat Republican (and now former state senator) Randy Hopper in a reprise of their 2008 campaign.
Here are the vital statistics on these three campaigns (in green) compared to the two recall elections Wisconsin Democrats won last summer (in blue) and the four recall elections where the Republican incumbent held on last summer (in red):
With one exception, these three districts are more fertile territory for Democrats than any of the constituencies where recall elections were held last year. Since Republicans hold only a 17-16 majority in the Wisconsin state senate, and since there are no ongoing recalls of Democratic state senators, chances of Democrats taking control of the chamber are quite high.
The Republican plan to keep control of the state senate centers on a lawsuit they filed to hold the recalls in new, Republican-friendly districts which they hastily drew before the recalls last year. According to Dane101, a ruling on that lawsuit is expected in February.