Wis. top court election adds fuel to 'powder keg'

MADISON, Wis.  Wisconsin's sharp political divide over a new law that limits public-worker collective bargaining rights came into focus Wednesday with the final hand-counting of ballots in the tiny town of Lake Mills.

Lake Mills, population 2,070, was the last precinct to report results of Tuesday's election for state Supreme Court justice between Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. When those ballots were finally counted, Kloppenburg led by an unofficial margin of just 204 votes out of more than 1.4 million ballots cast.

Kloppenburg claimed victory, but her paper-thin victory could be erased by a recount, so the ultimate winner may not be known for weeks, or longer. Prosser did not immediately request a recount but has until April 20 to do so.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker downplayed the significance of the election, saying it was skewed by exceptional turnout in the liberal cities of Madison and Milwaukee.

Democrats warned the results were only a sign of what's to come. Recall efforts have been launched against 16 state senators from both parties for their support or opposition to the bill eliminating most public employees' collective bargaining rights.

"We are sitting on a political powder keg in Wisconsin, and I don't see it becoming any less explosive soon," said Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a government watchdog group.

McCabe said many people assumed Prosser would have an easy victory after the 13-year incumbent won a four-way primary Feb. 15 by about a 30-point margin.

By Darren Hauck, AP Justice David Prosser, speaks to supporters on Tuesday in Waukesha, Wis.

But the landscape of the race changed after Walker pushed through the law to end most public worker bargaining powers, and increase benefit costs, both necessary, he argued, to balance the state budget. The move drew huge protests at the Capitol. Anti-Walker activists backed Kloppenburg over Prosser, a former Republican lawmaker. But Walker supporters also came out Tuesday in big numbers.

"The surge in turnout is not only remarkably large, but also remarkably balanced between the two sides," said Charles Franklin, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We saw both an incredibly activated electorate that is also incredibly polarized and exactly evenly divided," he said.

Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said he thinks "a message has been sent by the private-sector working class, and many public workers, that they have a rare opportunity to bring common-sense reforms to state government and they are not going to let that be taken from them without one massive fight."

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