Fox News reports that the outcome in Racine's 23rd Senate District is still too close to call.
The chamber stood evenly divided between the two parties going into Tuesday's elections. Democrats needed to win just one Senate race to gain a one-seat majority. Republicans needed to win all four.
The GOP swept all the contests except in Racine's 23rd Senate District. Democrat John Lehman led incumbent GOP Sen. Van Wanggaard by fewer than 800 votes with all precincts reporting, making the race too close to call.
Flipping the Wisconsin Senate would provide some consolation for progressives, but the big prize has eluded big labor. With Governor Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and at least three Republicans in state Senate races surviving, there will be no wholesale rollback of Walker's reforms.
Meanwhile, progressive blame big money as if all messages are created equal and that voting automatons, as we the people are perceived in progressive circles, merely vote for the message heard most often, regardless of what it says. But two words that seemed to garner little or no mention in mainstream coverage of the recall are "tea" and "party." Heavy labor union turnout for the recall election was more than matched by turnout in support of Governor Walker and his reforms. That implies a high level of Tea Party activism and voter intensity on the ground in Wisconsin.
Looking towards November, if results of massive recall effort should turn out to be a gain of just one Wisconsin Senate seat, it will have been a Pyrrhic victory for progressives. The implications for Obama are dire to say the least. Wisconsin is likely to be in play.
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