Advertisement Gov. Scott Walker concedes governor's race to Democrat Tony Evers 'Voters agree, it’s time for a change Wisconsin,' Gov.-elect Tony Evers says in victory speech Share Shares Copy Link Copy

More than 13 hours after the votes were in, Gov. Scott Walker has conceded to Democrat Tony Evers in the Wisconsin governor's race. "Thanks to Tony Evers for his gracious comments on our call today. I offered the full support of my staff and our cabinet as he begins the transition process," Walker said in a statement. "It has been my honor to serve as your governor for nearly eight years. We’ve come a long way together, and it is my sincere hope that the progress we’ve made during our time in office will continue and that we can keep Wisconsin working for generations to come." Walker has yet to speak publicly since the results came in, but Evers and Lt. Gov.-elect Mandela Barnes toured a Madison area Boys and Girls Club. "We have every confidence in the results last night," Ever said. "The race is now over, and it is time for us to come together." It was an extremely tight race throughout the evening until the city of Milwaukee's 47,000 absentee ballots were uploaded early Wednesday morning, which swung the race in Evers' favor. At 2:30 a.m., with 100 percent of the precincts in, Evers was beating Walker 1,323,904 to 1,292,817, more than 1 percentage point. "We are preparing for the likelihood or a recount," Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch had said at 12:55 a.m.State law only permits recounts for losing candidates who are within 1 percentage point. "We need the official canvass and for military ballots to be counted before any decision can be made. Thousands of ballots were damaged and had to be recreated. Until there is a comparison of the original ballots to the recreated ballots, there is no way to judge their validity," Walker campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger said early Wednesday. Evers also talked about that transition process Wednesday and the kinds of people he plans to include in his administration."I am also looking to staff the Evers administration with some significantly talented people, representing the diversity that the state of Wisconsin has. And we're going to pick people who, as we do, the three of us standing up here, put the people of Wisconsin first," he said. Evers' win on Tuesday is a huge victory for Democrats, who couldn't find the recipe to take out Walker in three previous elections, including a 2012 recall.Evers campaigned on the promise of cutting middle-class income taxes, eliminating a tax credit program for manufacturers and possibly raising the gas tax to pay for roads.He is a former teacher who's been state schools superintendent since 2009. He turned his understated personality to his advantage in the campaign, arguing that voters were tired of divisiveness and yearned for more collegial politics.