Sunday, August 21, 2011
Between $35 million and $40 million was spent on Wisconsin's recall elections. Was it really worth it?
Now that Wisconsin’s summer bout of recall madness has ended, let’s run the numbers. About 769,000 votes were cast in the state’s eight primary and nine general elections for state Senate, according to unofficial results. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group, estimates that total spending on the races by special interest groups and (to a much lesser extent) the candidates’ campaigns will fall between $35 million and $40 million. That breaks down to somewhere between $45 and $52 for each vote cast. But the campaigns, waged in TV markets that went well beyond the geographic boundaries of the recall districts, had an impact beyond the votes they helped sway. Voters all over the state were exposed to a glut of toxic …
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Darling's base comes out to support her, while Milwaukee's turnout wasn't as strong.
State Rep. Sandy Pasch’s failed bid to unseat state Sen. Alberta Darling in Tuesday's 8th Senate District recall election appears to hinge on one factor: turnout. According to an analysis of voting units throughout the district, the candidates were almost evenly split - with Darling winning 33 to Pasch’s 32. But Darling’s wards mostly came from Republican strongholds like Mequon, Germantown and Menomonee Falls, where her supporters showed up in large numbers. In comparison, voters in Democratic strongholds like Milwaukee didn’t show up as much as they could have. For example, in Milwaukee only 5,943 of the 11,623 registered voters in the area came out to the polls Tuesday - 51 percent turnout. By comparison, voter turnout in Menomonee …
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Even with no chance of Democrats gaining control of the state Senate, both parties say next week's Democrat recall elections are critical. And plans to recall Gov. Scott Walker continue.
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 control wasn't known until the results emerged for the final election to be counted: the 8th Senate recall race between incumbent Sen. Alberta Darling (R…
GOP incumbent Darling pulled out an eight-point victory over Democrat Pasch in costly election.
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 totals compiled by the Associated Press show Darling collected 39,471 votes, or 54 percent, and Pasch tallied 34,096 votes, or 46 percent. “In 2010, …
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Check out a replay of our live Election Day blog in the recall election, where Republican Alberta Darling won over challenger Sandy Pasch by a 8 percentage points.
- ELECTIONS
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011
From before the polls opened Tuesday until the last vote was counted, Patch covered the 8th District recall election and other races in our live Election Day Blog. The recalls are over now, but take a minute to check out our coverage in the replay of our blog.
Monday, August 8, 2011
The fundamental differences between Republican incumbent and Democrat challenger have heated up the recall election and left few voters undecided heading into Tuesday.
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. “I truly think our state’s future, if it doesn’t change, is in serious harm,” Pasch said. “We have seen policies that have divided our state, policies…
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Hundreds of volunteers hit the streets and the phones this weekend to get out the Democratic vote in Tuesday's recall election.
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 in an effort to get out the vote. Pasch said she is feeling very optimistic about the number of supporters she has behind her, and on Sunday afternoon…
Saturday, August 6, 2011
As Tuesday's recall elections near, nearly 300 people turn out for spirited Tea Party Express event in 8th Senate District.
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 and we are praying for you." Related: Check out archive of live blog from rally Most of the speakers focused on fiscal policy issues and public unions…
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Democrats ask state to investigate possible collusion between Darling and outside groups - the latest of nearly half a dozen other complaints against both sides made this week.
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, Wisconsin Right to Life and American Federation for Children. "Darling's refusal is an intentional coverup of her illegal collusion," the complaint states. …
Darling claims she left organization before she was elected to Assembly, but records shows she served on the board of directors until five years after she was elected.
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 Planned Parenthood board when I was a very young woman, before I entered public office," said Darling, a Republican who is facing Democrat Sandy Pasch in …
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5:10 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
"the daily Kos polls tend to very accurate and objective"...Oh come now...they bill themselves as " the largest progressive community blog in the United States". Liberals calling themselves progressives is a lot like the creationists renaming creationism as "intelligent design". Let's take a little sampling on the bios of the writers on the site: "Soon after the 2000 selection of George W. Bush … more ›