One year ago — on June 5, 2012 — Gov. Scott Walker defeated the historic recall effort against him.



On Wednesday night, state lawmakers — one by one — shared stories with a crowd of Republican supporters at Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha about how they were nervously waiting the election results a year ago.



"I am a survivor," said state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald as he recalled his own recall election victory in 2012. "I am just here to celebrate the victories that we have had after the historic two years of the elections of 2010 and the two rounds of recalls we had in the Senate."



A couple hundred supporters gathered at the hotel for what was billed as the "Moving Wisconsin Forward Rally," an event hosted by the state Republican Party.



Walker spoke for about 20 minutes to the crowd, praising the legislation of the past two years, especially his budget repair bill that ended collective bargaining — except for wages — for most public employee unions.



Patch Blog: GOP Party Chairman Brad Courtney reflects on recall