The radical union-busting bill was eventually passed after a committee vote that most observers believed was a violation of Wisconsin’s open meetings law. Recall drives were then launched against Democratic senators for leaving the state and against Republican senators for voting yes on Governor Walker’s bill.

By state law, public officials in Wisconsin cannot be recalled until they have served at least one year in office. Democratic volunteers and others in support of public employee unions gathered enough signatures to force recall elections against six of the eight recall-eligible Republicans. Democrats took two of those seats and Republicans retained four in elections held August 9th.

Supporters of Governor Walker used a combination of out-of-state, paid signature gatherers and volunteers to force recalls against only three of the eight Democratic senators who have served more than one year. Many of the signatures gathered by paid staff were disallowed by the government agency charged with certifying the petitions, but enough signatures were allowed to force the three elections. One of those elections was held July 19th. Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen easily defeated his opponent and retained his senate seat. The other two elections were held today. Incumbent Democrats Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch both won easily.

To recap: Democrats, using only volunteer help, forced recall elections in 75% of the Republican-held Senate districts eligible for recall. Republicans, on the other hand, forced recall elections in only 37.5% of the eligible Democratic districts, even with paid help and questionable tactics, including using forged signatures and offering free drinks to people in exchange for signing the recall petitions.

Early on, many observers and professional pundits argued that the recalls would be not only a referendum on Scott Walker and his supporters in the legislature, but also a measure of how Wisconsinites felt about the 14 Democratic senators leaving the state to block the bill. Reading the elections in those terms, the Republicans and Scott Walker lost big. They lost in one third of the six recall districts represented by Republicans, and gained no seats in the districts held by Democrats. As State Senator Lena Taylor of Milwaukee phrased it during a Madison, Wisconsin broadcast on MSNBC last week, she and her fellow Democrats “went into their backyard, into their sandbox, took their toys and made them ours.”

What about the Wisconsin 14 who left the state to slow down Governor Scott Walker and his allies in the legislature? Only three of them faced recalls, and they all performed strongly, one even better than he did in 2008.

In 2008, Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen won with 66.6 % of the vote. On July 19th, he won with...wait for it... 66.6% of the vote.

In 2008, Democratic State Senator Robert Wirch won with 66.65% of the vote. He won today’s election with "only" a 16-point advantage.

In 2008, Democratic State Senator Jim Holperin won with 51.21% of the vote. He won today’s election over his Tea Party challenger by 8 points!

Final score after the Summer of Recalls™: Wisconsin 5, FitzWalkerstan 4, Tea Party 0.



We feel pretty good about it all, but the big fish is still out there. Scottie Walker, we’re coming for you.

