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Wisconsin
Governor
| WISCONSIN |
June 5,
2012 Governor Recall |
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WI Elections
Commission
Notes: Gov. Scott Walker (R) survived the recall, again defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D). In Nov. 2010 Walker had defeated Barrett by a 52.3% to 46.5% margin, and the recall result was similar, albeit with a somewhat higher turnout. Once in office Walker moved quickly; on Feb. 14, 2011 he introduced the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, legislation to cut benefits and limit collective bargaining rights for public employees. This led to dramatic, massive protests in Madison, but the legislature passed the bill, and Walker signed Act 10 into law on March 11. Taking on the public sector unions was divisive, but made Walker a star among conservatives. United Wisconsin, a political action committee, formally launched the recall petition against Walker on Nov. 15, 2011. The group needed to collect 540,208 signatures in 60 days to force a recall. On Jan. 17, 2012 they reported submitting more than one million signatures to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. On Mar. 29 the G.A.B. confirmed 900,939 valid signatures to recall Walker and 808,990 signatures to recall Gov. Kleefisch and set the elections for May 8 and June 5. This made for very short campaigns—little more than two months for the primary and less than one month for the general election. In the May 8 Republican primary, Walker won 96.88% of the vote. The Democratic primary was competitive. On Jan. 19 former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced she would run if the recall went ahead; Falk obtained many endorsements and was seen as the frontrunner. However, on Mar. 30 Barrett announced that he would run, and on May 8 he finished first with 390,191 votes (58.10%), followed by Falk at 229,236 votes (34.13%), state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout 26,967 (4.02%), Secretary of State Doug La Follette 19,497 (2.9%) and Gladys Huber 4,847 (0.72%). Also on the June ballot, running as an independent, was physician Hari Trivedi. Walker and Barrett debated at WMVS-TV studios in Milwaukee on May 25, hosted by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (>); and in Eckstein Hall at Marquette Law School on May 31. Broadly, Walker touted the results of his reforms while Barrett argued that Walker had instigated a "political civil war." Turnout was 57.80% of voting age population, not as high as predicted. The G.A.B had predicted turnout of between 60 and 65 percent of voting age population, but noted that, “Wisconsin has never had a statewide recall election, which makes predicting turnout difficult.” The final figure was 57.80% of voting age population, substantially higher than the 49.7% turnout for the 2010 election (1, 2). When the votes in the June 5 election were tallied, Walker defeated Barrett by a somewhat larger margin than in 2010, 53.1% to 46.3% (1, 2, 3). This was the costliest election in Wisconsin history; the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign put total spending in the campaign to recall Walker at $81 million; the Walker campaign and allies spent $58.7 million to $21.9 million by Barrett and allies and $305,204 for independent candidate Hariprasad Trivedi. Looking ahead there was the November general election, and in 2014 Walker would face another campaign. Campaign Managers: Scott Walker: Keith Gilkes (reported Sept. 30, 2011, from Oct. 8) President of The Champion Group, LLC from 2005. Moved to campaign from position as chief of staff to Gov. Walker, Jan.-Oct. 2011. Campaign manager on Walker's 2010 campaign, April 2009-Jan. 2011. Policy advisor to Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Jan. 2007-April 2008. Executive director of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, 2006. Campaign manager on Dan Kapanke for State Senate, Feb.-Dec. 2004. Legislative assistant in the Wisconsin State Assembly, 1999-2000. B.S. in political science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999. From Prairie du Chien, WI. Tom Barrett: Jay Howser Started at Shorr Johnson Magnus in Philadelphia in June 2011. Campaign manager on Chris Dodd for Senate, Mar. 2009-Feb. 2010. Campaign manager on Jim Martin for U.S. Senate run-off in Georgia, Nov.-Dec. 2008. Campaign manager on Mary Landrieu for Louisiana, Dec. 2007-Nov. 2008. Campaign manager on Walter Boaso for Governor (LA), Apr.-Nov. 2007. Deputy chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth, Dec. 2006-Apr. 2007. Campaign manager on Brad Ellsworth for Congress (IN), June 2005-Nov. 2006. Partner at Howser-Kushlan Research Consultants, Nov. 2003-May 2005. Research director on Bob Graham for President, Apr.-Nov. 2003. Research director on Paul Wellstone for U.S. Senate, Oct. 2001-Nov. 2002. Legislative research assistant to Sen. Paul Wellstone,Feb.-Oct. 2001. Researcher on the Gore-Lieberman Recount, Nov.-Dec. 2000. Researcher on Gore's presidential campaign, May-Nov. 2020. Senior policy advisor in the Office of Gov. Don Siegelman (AL), Jan. 1999-May 2000. See also: --. "Recall Race for Governor Cost $81 Million." Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, July 25, 2012. Paul Abowd. "Walker wins Wisconsin recall election flooded with outside spending." The Center for Public Integrity, June 5, 2012. Perry Bacon, Jr. "Wisconsin battle says little about Obama v. Romney." The Grio, June 5, 2012. Molly Ball. "Why Are Democrats Losing the Wisconsin Recall?" The Atlantic, May 31, 2012. Emily Schultheis. "Barrett wins Wis. recall primary." Politico, May 8, 2012. Staff. "Falk Announces Run For Governor." Channel 3000, Jan. 19, 2012. Brendan O'Brien. "Enough signatures collected to recall Wisconsin governor." Reuters, Jan. 17, 2012. Patrick Marley. "Gilkes to leave Walker's staff to head campaign for expected recall attempt." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 30, 2011. and... Paul Blumenthal. "Scott Walker Leaks Reveal Internal Workings Of A Broken Campaign Finance System." HuffPost, Sept. 20, 2016. Rob Thomas. "Wisconsin Film Festival: 'Divided We Fall' is a case study of the Act 10 protests." The Capital Times, Mar. 14, 2017. |
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