State Government and Political Roundup: Fallout from Election Day starts

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MADISON - How much of a factor was redistricting in this week’s elections? Senate Democrat Tim Cullen of Janesville said the GOP’s secret mapping process – plus big money – were huge in helping Republicans regain control of both houses.

UW-Madison professor Ken Mayer said the new districts were one factor, but there were others. He said the partisan makeup of the Legislature never changes dramatically, unless there’s a big swing in the statewide races. And he said the 53-percent max that Democrats achieved in the presidential and U.S. Senate contests was not enough. The GOP gained two Senate seats, and maintained about a 20-vote majority in the Assembly. The party in power normally tweaks redistricting to its advantage when it comes up every 10 years. But Republicans made it an art form after winning full control of the Legislature and governor’s office. A three-judge federal panel condemned the GOP’s secrecy of the process, even though it ruled that all but two Assembly districts met the constitutional requirements. Court records showed that Republicans staged public hearings and tried to shut out Hispanics – the latter of which was shut down by the courts when two Assembly districts in Milwaukee had to be redrawn. Racine County Republican Robin Vos, who’s expected to be the next Assembly speaker, downplayed the impact of the redistricting. He said voters appreciated the GOP’s ability to balance the budget without raising taxes.

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Recounts are possible in three Wisconsin State Assembly elections from Tuesday, along with one Senate race. But no matter what happens, Republicans will still have control of both houses. In most cases, the losing candidates say they’ll review their options after the ballots are officially canvassed in the next few days. But there’s only one contest in which the margin of defeat is less than one-half-of-one-percent – and thus, it’s the only case in which taxpayers would cover the cost of a recount. That’s in the 72nd Assembly District, where first-term Republican Scott Krug of Wisconsin Rapids holds a 114-vote lead over fire-fighter Justin Pleuss. In the 70th Assembly District, Democratic incumbent Amy Sue Vruwink of Milladore has a 168-vote lead over car dealer Nancy VanderMeer of Tomah. In the Eau Claire’s 93rd District, Republican Warren Petryk had a 500-vote lead over former Representative Jeff Smith. One state Democratic campaign official doubted there would be a recount, saying the result is not that close. In the Senate, Oshkosh Democrat Jessica King – who won a recall election last summer – is waiting for the canvass to decide on a recount, after losing by 590 votes to Fond du Lac Republican Rick Gudex. That race is being closely watched, because a Gudex victory would let Republicans pass what they want without having to deal with moderate Republican Dale Schultz – who killed the GOP’s mining package last spring with the help of Democrats.

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One of the state’s most liberal politicians will join one of the state’s biggest conservatives in the U.S. Senate. But Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson are hopeful that they can work together to serve Wisconsin’s best interests. Baldwin said everyone who seeks public service cares deeply about their state – and she’s confident she can find “common ground” with Johnson on both local and national issues. And that includes the federal deficit and the looming crisis over the national debt. Baldwin said the voters sent a message on Tuesday that they’re sick of gridlock, even though the partisan makeup of Congress and the White House did not change. Baldwin, a 14-year veteran of the U.S. House, defeated former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson on Tuesday to win the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Herb Kohl. Johnson, who unseated Democrat Russ Feingold two years ago, says he looks forward to meeting with Baldwin in person to discuss issues. He said he hoped Baldwin would agree with the facts surrounding the federal budget, and work toward what he called “common sense solutions.” Johnson agreed that the two are political opposites, and the first thing he wants to do is find out what they agree on.

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Wisconsinites are taking a breather after almost two years of non-stop political campaigns. But the break might not last long, because another spirited State Supreme Court race could be in the offing for next spring. Conservative Justice Pat Roggensack is up for another 10-year term. And there are reports that Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi might be gearing up to oppose Roggensack. Sumi tells Madison’s The Isthmus newspaper that she’s “seriously considering” a run, and she’s working with a non-partisan group of people to explore the possibilities. Sumi was the judge who temporarily halted the state’s collective bargaining limits for most public employee unions, when she ruled that a legislative committee broke the Open Meeting Law in endorsing it. Roggensack helped overturn the decision, when the Supreme Court upheld the union law in mid-2011. Sumi says the case is only one of hundreds she has handled in 15 years on the bench. Massive protests over the collective bargaining law turned the 2011 Supreme Court election into a heated, close contest, with Justice David Prosser winning a statewide recount by just seven-thousand votes. Since then, there have been two summers of recall elections along with the regularly-scheduled contests. Wisconsin has had five statewide Election Days in the last eight months alone – with millions spent on the intense TV ads and other campaigning that goes with them.

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State Senate Democratic leader Mark Miller says he will leave that post next month, before his party becomes the minority again. The Monona lawmaker gave no reason – but he said he was honored to serve quote, “through this important time in history.” Miller led 13 other Senate Democrats as they fled to Illinois for three weeks last year, in a failed effort to block the law which virtually ended most public employee union bargaining in the state. He later helped Democrats win the seat they needed to regain control of the Senate in June of this year. But it turned out to be a largely symbolic move, since the Legislature was never called into session during that time. On Tuesday, Republicans won back control of the Senate by gaining two seats. Miller will remain in the Senate. He was unopposed on Tuesday for another four-year term. No one announced plans to replace Miller as the new minority leader, but a strong competition was expected. Some Democrats privately told reporters that Miller most likely would have faced a challenge, had he decided to seek the leadership post again.

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Opponents did not make sexual orientation much of an issue in the Wisconsin congressional elections. But now that Capitol Hill has two openly gay Democrats from the state, the Wisconsin Family Action group warns that both Congressman-elect Mark Pocan and Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin will advance a “narrow, liberal agenda.” Juliane Appling of Family Action says her group will work to defeat both Baldwin and Pocan in their next elections and stop them from quote, “destroying” the country. Katie Belanger of Fair Wisconsin says her group is pleased with the elections of both Baldwin and Pocan – and with voters in Maine and Maryland who voted to approve gay marriage, a first for the nation. In 2006, almost six-of-every-10 Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions. But both have since been getting more support. The latest Marquette University Law School poll said 44-percent of likely voters approve of gay marriage, and 29-percent favor civil unions – and only 22-percent believe gay partners should not get legal recognition. Democrats created the state’s domestic partner registry a few years ago, which gives same-sex couples about one-fifth of the legal benefits of married couples. The Family Action group continues to challenge it in a state appeals court. And state Assembly Republican Joel Kleefisch of Oconomowoc says that as long as GOP remains in charge at the State Capitol, the state’s ban on gay marriage will not go away any time soon.

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The final precincts are in – and President Obama carried Wisconsin by seven-percentage points, 53-46 over Republican Mitt Romney. That’s half his victory margin from 2008, when he won by 14 points in the Badger State. Obama became the fifth Democrat in a row to win Wisconsin’s electoral votes, continuing a string that began in 1988 with former Mike Dukakis. Bill Clinton also did it twice and John Kerry also carried Wisconsin. According to unofficial returns, Obama had just over 1.6 million votes, to 1.4 million for Republican Mitt Romney. When five minor party candidates are added in, about 3,000,039-thousand Wisconsinites voted for president yesterday. That’s more than the 2.9 million cast in 2008. The turnout then was 69-percent, the third highest in state history. Wisconsin’s largest was 73-percent in 1960. It will be awhile before we know yesterday’s official turnout. The ballots must be canvassed first. But Government Accountability Board director Kevin Kennedy said it appeared that over 70-percent of Wisconsin’s voting-age adults took part.

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If a U.S. senator from Illinois has his way, Milwaukee would have to find a way to stop dumping sewage into Lake Michigan during heavy rain-storms. Republican Mark Kirk says it will be his priority over the next two years to get his colleagues to ban sewage-dumping in the Great Lakes. Kirk has been away from Washington since he suffered a stroke earlier this year – but he plans to return in January. Kirk was walking with a cane at his suburban Chicago polling place yesterday. But he managed to climb up 37 floors of stairs last Sunday at a fund-raiser for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

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President Obama’s fans set a new record on Twitter for the number of times that others re-tweeted his message – and a Green Bay Packers’ player who held the old record took notice. Obama tweeted “Four more years” after learning that he was re-elected to a second term. As of mid-morning today, it’s been re-tweeted over 662,000 times – busting the old mark set in late September by Packers’ guard T.J. Lang. That was on the night the Packers lost at Seattle, because a replacement ref blew an interception call in the end zone. Lang told the NFL to fine him and use the money to “pay the regular refs.” Today, Lang tweeted quote, “Congrats to Mr. President, but did you really have to shatter my re-tweet record? Back to the drawing board.”

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Governor Scott Walker says he’ll meet with state health officials this week to decide what to do about “Obamacare.” Earlier this year, Walker cut off all of Wisconsin’s efforts to implement the Democrats’ health care reforms – in the hopes that Republican Mitt Romney would win the White House and throw out the mandates. But Obama won, and the state faces a deadline in nine days to come up with its own purchasing exchange which offers a variety of health plans. If the state doesn’t act, the federal government could force its own template which Wisconsin would have to follow starting in 2014. But Walker said the federal government would not review the matter until as late as January. And while Democrats disagree, Walker contends that the state has until next fall to quote, “make modifications as we see fit.” Democrats have pleaded with Walker to let the state design its own plan now, with the goal of serving residents better. The state Health Services Department did not immediately comment. Walker talked about it during a visit to Milwaukee. He also said the election results show that Wisconsinites are very independent – and they still choose the person-over-the-party.

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U.S. Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin was planning to talk this afternoon with Wisconsin’s other senator. Republican Ron Johnson reached out to the Democrat Baldwin in a statement today. He said he’s read to collaborate with Baldwin to quote, “help Wisconsinites grapple with federal red tape, promote our great state, and develop real solutions to address the many challenges facing America.” Baldwin was among the most liberal members of the U-S House during her 14-year tenure there – and Johnson has been rated by some as among the most conservative, ever since he unseated Democrat Russ Feingold two years ago. In an interview with the AP, Baldwin said she would stress an agenda to make manufacturing stronger both in the state and the nation.

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Earlier this year, surveys showed that up to 10-percent of Wisconsin voters would split their tickets and support both Democratic President Obama and Republican Tommy Thompson for the U.S. Senate. But it didn’t happen. Democrat Tammy Baldwin finished only 1.3 percentage points behind Obama yesterday – with Obama getting 52.7 percent of the Wisconsin vote while Baldwin got 51.4. And two carried virtually the identical counties throughout the Badger State. The Democrats got most of their support in the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha region, far northwest Wisconsin, and the west-southwest two-thirds of the state which included Menomonie, La Crosse, and Madison. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel cited exit polling data which showed that ticket-splitting was as high as 22-percent in 1998, but plunged to just over five-percent yesterday – and it was only about a point lower than the polarizing contests for governor and U.S. Senate back in 2010. News analyst Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said Wisconsin can still be a swing state – but in some years, races can get nationalized along party lines, and it’s hard for individuals to overcome them.

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Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson says his defeat in the U.S. Senate race ends his political career, but he plans to keep working for the people of the state. Thompson was emotional and reflective in his concession speech last night after he was defeated by Democrat Tammy Baldwin. He said he ran for the Senate because he loves Wisconsin and he wanted to spend his last years serving the people of the state again. Thompson has had a long political career, starting in the Legislature in the 1960s, through his time as Wisconsin governor from 1987 to 2001. He said he felt he let down his supporters by now winning yesterday’s vote, but those in the audience shouted “no” in response.

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Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan says he will return to Congress, but he plans to spend some time with his family first. Ryan was re-elected to his Congressional seat in yesterday’s vote. His advisers had been discussing whether the Republican would be best-served by returning for an eighth term in Congress if he is planning to run for President in 2016. Even before he was chosen to run with Mitt Romney, the 42 year old from Janesville was seen as a rising star in the GOP. Ryan, his wife and three children are returning to their Janesville home today.

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