Despite an unprecedented recall effort to flip control of the Wisconsin state Senate, Democrats failed to take the three seats necessary to gain a majority. Even after $30 million in union and allied group spending, only two Republicans lost their recall elections.
Of the two, one Republican resided in a district that Obama carried by 20 points in 2008 and the other had recently been in the local media spotlight for abandoning his wife and moving in with his 25 year old girlfriend.
The six Republican senators faced a recall effort after supporting Republican Governor Scott Walker’s state budget repair bill, which removed some of the collective bargaining rights enjoyed by public employee unions in the state (By comparison North Carolina does not officially recognize public sector unions). Union supporters responded with a series of massive rallies which swarmed the state capitol building for weeks, while 14 Democratic state senators fled the state in an effort to deny the quorum needed to pass most legislation. Once the bill passed, Democrats began efforts to gain control of the state Supreme Court and initiate recall elections against Republican legislators.
Incumbent justice David Prosser narrowly won his statewide race against a liberal challenger in April, keeping the conservative majority on the court in place (and protecting the new collective bargaining law from challenges). The attention then shifted to recall efforts in the state Senate. Four Republicans and one Democrat have survived the recall efforts, with two more Democrats facing a recall vote next week.
Their lack of success may dissuade union supporters and state Democrats from potential recall efforts against Gov. Scott Walker. Experts estimate that race may cost up to five times as much as last night’s recall election – a staggering amount of resources with no guarantee of success for recall supporters. The efforts would also have to wait until 2012, giving the collective bargaining reforms even more time to succeed. The law has already saved local governments millions in labor costs and preserved thousands of jobs from layoffs in the state.
It is difficult to draw national implications from an extremely local race, but the failure of union efforts in Wisconsin does suggest that voters may be forgiving of tough budget decisions in state capitals around the country.
The unions did not spend nearly the amount that shadowy corporate PACs did in the election. And how is a Union which represensts millions of working class citizens a problem but corporations that represent only the few are not… so confusing but then again I unlike Mitt Romney do not consider corporations that receive tax breaks (Republican given) for out- sourcing American jobs real people… I am freedom loving like that… And FYI they won in Republican districts- pretty impressive.
It is amazing that so many talking points fit in one paragraph. I’m fairly impressed.
1. I have not seen a single source that shows GOP and allied spending was greater than Union and Democratic spending.
2. I have no problem when unions represent individuals in the private sector that freely join them. The problem, particularly in Wisconsin and other non-right to work states, is that these workers were forced to join them and have dues automatically deducted from their paycheck. These dues went to fuel big-government Democrats’ campaigns, regardless of the worker’s political views. Public sector unions are problematic anyway-FDR opposed them precisely because politicians have an incentive to buy them off with public money. That is what this recall and political melodrama was about: Public Sector Union political power.
3. Obama won every single one of these districts. Unions were motivated like never before, with thousands of people on the streets. They spent more on these races than on any other state legislative races in history. Yet they FAILED to retake the state senate, just like they FAILED to take the state supreme court. You can spin it all you want to, but conservatives still control all three branches of Wisconsin government, despite public temper tantrums and attempts to reverse elections held less than a year ago.
Mr. Inman are you aware that Unions must disclose political spending? However the Koch empire does not have to divulge such info. Your piece is blatantly biased.
I’m presented this from a conservative point of view-I never claimed to be unbiased. If you can show me a source that proves that conservatives outspent Democratic and union sources, I’d love to see it. I believe this Senators won because their budget repair bill worked-state and local governments were able to minimize layoffs by cutting labor costs.
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