Post-mortem — No excuses or hand holding. Bad News: Dems held both their seats, and Republicans hold the Senate by only one seat. Good News: Republicans hold the Governorship, Senate and Assembly, and the big things have been done, including the collective bargaining law, the budget and the redistricting. The Dem gains will be short-lived because once redistricting takes effect, it will be harder for Democrats to retake the Senate (Wirch, for example, will lose most of his current district).
So tonight is not for us to celebrate or take any victory dances. But I still feel good, in a mellow kind of way, because the end result is that Republicans in Wisconsin beat back mob rule:
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Polls close at 8 p.m. Central. Results from WisPolitics (results Central time):
Last updated at 10:06 p.m.
12th Senate District – 78% reporting
54% – Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Conover (Incumbent) – x
46% – Kim Simac, R-Eagle River
22nd Senate District – 100% reporting
58% – Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie (Inc.) – x
42% – Jonathan Steitz, R-Pleasant Prairie
Updates (most recent at top)(times in Central):
9:50 – AP calls it for Holperin.
9:45 — Just a matter of time until they call it for Holperin.
9:38 — Results slow to come in in District 12, as predicted. Still fewer than half reported.
9:25 — AP calls it for Wirch
9:22 – Not looking good for either Republican challenger.
9:14 — Athough not in the listed results, looks like Wirch pulling into the lead.
8:59 — Steitz lead may not last, Kenosha not reported yet.
8:50 — Doesn’t look good for Simac, but I don’t know enought about where the votes have come from to say if it’s over. Charlie Sykes says she’s underperforming.
8:31 — Don’t read too much into early results, not clear who is under/over performing.
8:15 — Looks like could be long night in 12th District due to heavy volume and hand count only.
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From earlier in the evening, before the polls closed:
Will start posting results as they come in, but will use the time before then to post some stray info. about Wisconsin and the recalls:
Did you know that the NRA endorsed one of the Democrats being recalled? Yup, Jim Holperin, considered the most vulnerable of the two, was endorsed by the NRA in late July. As Kevin Binversie of Lakeshore Laments points out, if Holperin wins, he may have the NRA to thank. So you NRA members out there should let NRA headquarters know how pleased you are (the challenger, Kim Simac, has a very strong 2nd Amendment position and history).
One result of the collective bargaining bill is that the Wisconsin teachers union has laid off 40% of its staff, because they have very little to do.
Voting apparently is heavy today.
The three Twitter feeds I’m following are @KevinBinversie, @steveegg and @SykesCharlie. They know Wisconsin.
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