MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Six Republican candidates posing as Democrats lost to genuine Democrats in primaries on Tuesday in Wisconsin. The voting was a prelude to the first in a series of recall elections singling out nine Wisconsin state senators for their positions on the divisive union rights restrictions of Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican.

The primary winners will now take on the incumbent Republicans on Aug. 9.

The Wisconsin Republican Party orchestrated the placement of the fake Democrats (Republicans prefer to call them protest candidates) on Tuesday’s ballot, thereby delaying the general election for a month. That gave the Republican incumbents more time to campaign and distance themselves from the turmoil over the union law that they voted to support in March.

Five of the six winners had at least 65 percent of the vote, based on unofficial results. A sixth had 54 percent.

There are four recall elections scheduled for the next five weeks. The six Republicans voted for Mr. Walker’s bill.