The Wall Street Journal reports that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has withstood the recall challenge from big labor as projections have him winning 58.2% of the vote to Tom Barrett's 41.2% with 54% of precincts reporting.
Mr. Walker had 58% of the vote with 33% of the state's precincts reporting, while his opponent, Tom Barrett, the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee, had 42%. Turnout was said to be heavy.
The vote capped a contentious 15-month battle that polarized Wisconsin, long a centrist state, with union members and Democrats protesting angrily against Mr. Walker's signing in March 2011 of a law removing most collective-bargaining rights from public employees.
The race drew more than $63 million in spending by the campaigns and their allies—most of that supporting Mr. Walker and much of it from outside Wisconsin—and saw nationally prominent politicians from both parties travel to the state to rally support in what was widely considered the country's second-most-important election this year after November's presidential contest.
Contradicting the Wall Street Journal's theme which drew ominous conclusions as to what the recall results mean for President Obama in November was MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. She said that the recall results don't mean a thing regarding November and pointed to an exit poll showing that 44% rate Obama as better able to fix the economy over 36% who think Mitt Romney will do better. Nineteen percent were undecided. The fly in Maddow's ointment was from analysis by Pat Caddell on Fox, who said exit polls also showed that those 19% undecided went heavily in favor of Walker.
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