Wisconsin Unions Fail

In case you didn't stay up long enough last night to follow the Wisconsin recall results, the GOP held 4 of the 6 seats and retained control of the Wisconsin Senate:

After tens of millions of dollars spent by outside interest groups, dozens of attack ads and exhaustive get-out-the-vote efforts, Democrats on Tuesday fell short of their goal of taking control of the state Senate and stopping the agenda of Gov. Scott Walker.

Republicans won four of six recall races, meaning the party still holds a narrow 17-16 majority in the Senate — at least until next week, when Sens. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, and Jim Holperin, D-Conover face their own recall elections. A third Democrat, Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, easily survived a recall attempt last month.

Sens. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, and Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, successfully defended their seats Tuesday.

Challengers state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, and Jessica King unseated incumbent state Sens. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, and Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac.

Going into Tuesday, Republicans controlled the body 19-14, so Democrats needed to win at least three seats and hold onto two more next week to take over.

"The revolution has not occurred," said UW-Milwaukee political science professor Mordecai Lee, a former Democratic lawmaker. "The proletariat did not take over the streets."

What a moron.

Next week's election will be interesting too. Two Democrats will be defending their seats and one is very vulnerable, made even more so by yesterday's results. The Dems thought they had a sure thing - one even predicted wins in all six races. Dispirited Dems and highly motivated Republicans could make things rather ugly for the Dems yet again.

Bottom line - Dems and their union thugs spent $30 million to win only two seats, not win control, and have now created a very vulnerable incumbent for next week's race. Money well spent.