While Democratic challengers picked up two Senate seats Tuesday night to win the battle, they couldn’t secure all three seats to win the war. Four recalled Republicans secured wins Tuesday evening, just enough to block a shift of the Senate floor control to the Democrats. “The political consequence is that they have tried to take control of the Senate and they failed,” said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin. “The Senate will stay in Republican hands. The Democrat’s ability to block legislation remains just about a limp as it did yesterday.” The Senate …

It took until the early morning hours Wednesday, but Republican state Sen. Alberta Darling successfully defended her 8th Senate District seat from Democratic challenger Rep. Sandy Pasch by posting an eight-point victory in a key recall election. “There were so many guns pointed at my back because I helped lead the fight to get the state back on track,” Darling told supporters at her victory party in Thiensville. Darling announced her victory early at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. She joined three other Republican senators who also fought off recall challenges around the state. Final, unofficial…

Democratic candidate Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) won Shorewood with 73 percent of the vote over incumbent Republican Sen. Alberta Darling in the 8th Senate District recall election Tuesday. According to unofficial results from Village Clerk Sherry Grant around 9 p.m., Pasch garnered 4582 votes, to Darling’s 1630 votes. Grant said voter turnout in Shorewood was at 63 percent. All results are unofficial until canvassed by Shorewood's Village Clerk.

Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) cast her ballot Tuesday morning at the River Hills Village Hall. She arrived just after 7:15 a.m. with her grandchildren to a full polling station. She said that it's a matter of voter turnout today and moving forward. "We don't want to go back to the Doyle/Pasch days when we had a big inflation, a lot of job loss, campanies leaving Wisconsin...We don't want to go back, we want to grow jobs," she said. From the minute the polls open until the last ballot is counted, Patch is covering the 8th Senate District and other recall races all day and night on …

8th District Race Now Called a 'Tossup' After handicapping the 8th Senate District race as "leaning" toward Republican Alberta Darling for most of the campaign, WisPolitics.com is now declaring the race a "tossup."The political website notes that Darling won by only 1,000 votes in 2008 and that the Democrats are making this race, and the 14th Senate District, a high priority. The last time the site handicapped the races, on July 15, it said Darling appeared to have the advantage over Pasch. On the Campaign Trail: Lieutenant Governor Joins Darling for Final Push On Saturday, with less than 72 …

The political cauldron in the state has been at a steady simmer for the past few months, but on Tuesday it will be brought to a full boil as voters go to the polls in six recall elections throughout Wisconsin. Republican Alberta Darling, of River Hills, will look to defend her 8th Senate District seat from Democratic challenger state Rep. Sandy Pasch, of Whitefish Bay. Related: On the campaign trail with Darling and Pasch With such clear-cut differences between the two candidates, voters in this election will decide whether to continue taking the state on the path it’s on, or correct course…

When state Sen. Alberta Darling sent out this tweet to her nearly 360 Twitter followers, she didn’t use a penny of the more than $1 million in campaign cash she has raised so far.“Check out this editorial from the Journal Sentinel about the complaint filed regarding Citizen Action and my opponent http://ow.ly/5U8jF,” the River Hills Republican incumbent tweeted.Darling’s Democartic opponent in Tuesday’s 8th District recall race, state Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay), fired her own missile with this tweet, “UPDATE: WHAT IS SHE HIDING?: New Details Emerge in Alberta Darling Coverup http://…

Editor's Note: As the 8th Senate District campaign winds down, Patch is spending part of Saturday and Sunday on the campaign trail with Republican Sen. Alberta Darling and Democratic challenger Sandy Pasch. This is one of two stories and accompanying videos on the last-minute campaigning by the two candidates. ________________________________ Less than 48 hours from the time the polls open for the 8th Senate District recall election, Sandy Pasch is circulating among her dozens of supporters at her Glendale campaign headquarters, gearing up for yet another day of phone calls and door knocking …

Editor's Note: As the 8th Senate District campaign winds down, Patch is spending part of Saturday and Sunday on the campaign trail with Republican Sen. Alberta Darling and Democratic challenger Sandy Pasch. This is one of two stories and accompanying videos on the last-minute campaigning by the two candidates. ____________________________ It has been a political storm that has rumbled throughout the state since February, and on Tuesday voters will send a clear message whether they believe the state is on the right direction or needs a course correction. On Saturday, with less than 72 hours …

During a spirited rally in a Ozaukee County park Saturday, Tea Party Express organizers implored hundreds of supporters to take the conservative movement to the polls Tuesday and support the six Republican senators being targeted in the high-profile recall elections. Under a brilliant blue sky in Thiensville Village Park, about 275 Tea Party supporters were galvanized by a half dozen speakers, patriotic music and flag waving during the hour-long event."I am all jazzed up!" said Andrea Shea King, blogger and radio host, as the crowd roared. "Americans are here with you. We are supporting you …

The candidates and outside groups with a stake in the 8th Senate District recall race have shattered the spending record, shelling out nearly $8 million thus far, according to a nonpartisan group following campaign dollars. Spending in five of the nine recall elections this summer have surpassed the previous record of $3 million set in 2000 in the 10th Senate District, with the battle between incumbent Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) leading the way with $7.9 million, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Combined spending for all the …

In the midst of a week full of accusations of wrongdoing by both political parties, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Thursday filed a complaint with the state Government Accountability Board, accusing Republican Sen. Alberta Darling of covering up of collusion with several special-interest groups. The party is alleging that Darling has had e-mail coordination with four conservative outside groups and she hasn't yet responded to open records requests the party filed on July 13. The complaint alleges collusion with conservative groups - Americans For Prosperity, Wisconsin Family Action, …

Despite Sen. Alberta Darling's claim that she left the board of directors at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin before she was elected to the State Assembly in 1990, a review of the organization's records shows she spent five years on the board after being elected. And while Darling says she left the group when its focus "shifted" to abortion, Planned Parenthood actually began offering abortion services while she still was on the group's board. Darling's statement was in response to a journalist's question during a Newsmaker Luncheon Tuesday at the Milwaukee Press Club.  "I belonged to the …

As Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Sandy Pasch campaign with just days left before Tuesday's recall election, a few swing communities could be key to inching out a victory in the 8th Senate District race. Both Darling and Pasch have respective strongholds that historically have voted heavily Democratic or Republican. For example, there's little question that Darling, a Republican from River Hills, will have strong support in Menomonee Falls, Germantown and Mequon. And Pasch, a Democrat from Whitefish Bay, will likely carry Shorewood, Glendale and the small portion of Milwaukee that's in the 8th…

Republican state Sen. Alberta Darling and Democrat state Rep. Sandy Pasch answered voters' questions and mixed it up a bit at a Rotary Club forum in Menomone Falls on Wednesday. If you weren't there, you can check out the forum in its entirety in the following videos. And to make sure you don't have to sit through the entire hour-long event, we've broken up the forum into segments, you can you just select the videos you're interested in. _______________________________________   Ground Rules/Opening Statements from Candidates (5:27) What is the Most Inaccurate Thing Being Said About You? (6:…

In their second and final face-to-face meeting before Tuesday’s recall election, Republican Alberta Darling and Democrat Sandy Pasch clashed on the usual issues that have surfaced during the campaign – health care, education, budget cuts and more. But challenger Pasch also used the forum in Menomonee Falls to accuse the incumbent of no longer listening to the concerns of the  constituents of 8th Senate District, a claim Darling strongly denied. Related: See video of forum “This election is about the 30,000 people who signed a petition saying Darling has stopped listening,” Pasch said at the …

Liberal Group Sues Darling Over Open Records Request Liberal group One Wisconsin Now has filed an official complaint in Dane County Circuit Court alleging that state Sen. Alberta Darling ignored their open records request. “She has repeatedly ignored a reasonable open records request and we have been forced to file this lawsuit because Sen. Alberta Darling thinks the laws of Wisconsin do not apply to her,” said Scot Ross, executive director of the group. Tea Party Express to Rally for Darling The Tea Party Express will roll into Wisconsin Friday, making a stop in Thiensville Saturday in …

So much money is being poured into Wisconsin's recall elections that the amount raised by the candidates themselves is almost inconsequential, a campaign watchdog says. "Already there has been more than $2 million spent on ads in Milwaukee," said Mike McCabe, executive director of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. "It doesn't matter what the candidates raise. They might as well be bystanders." McCabe estimated Wednesday that special-interest groups would spend $25 million on all of Wisconsin's recall elections. Combined with spending by candidates in the nine recall races, that …

The Tea Party Express will roll into Wisconsin Friday, making a stop in Thiensville Saturday in support of Sen. Alberta Darling and her battle to keep her Senate seat. The group, which has organized rallies throughout the country that feature speakers such as Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, Michelle Bachmann and Ann Coulter, will rally around 5:30 p.m. at Thiensville Village Hall. The rally occurs just days before Aug. 9, when Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) challenges Darling (R-River Hills) for control of the 8th Senate District. “Wisconsin has become ground zero in the fight between …

Despite her more than 20 years in the state Legislature, Republican Sen. Alberta Darling said Tuesday she is facing an uphill battle to re-election in the Aug. 9 recall race. In an appearance before a media panel at the Milwaukee Press Club, Darling was asked whether she was confident about winning the re-election. “I’m not sure. It’s going to be about turnout. It’s about turnout,” she replied. “Is this tense for me? Yes. Do I think I’m going to win? I’m giving it my best shot.” The recall election was brought upon Darling after more than 30,000 signatures were gathered in her 8th Senate …