Tom Barrett was the winner of the Democratic party primary in the attempt to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in ballotting Tuesday, May 8, in an election which set a record for voter participation in a partisan primary. More than 30 percent of the electorate went to the polls.
Barrett had 58 percent of the vote or 390,109 votes. Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who was backed by the major public employee unions and had promised to veto any state budget which did not restore bargaining rights, was a distant second with 34 percent or 228,940 votes. Secretary of State Doug La Follette got 3 percent, State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout with 4 percent and Gladys Huber, a protest candidate, got less than 1 percent.
Barrett will face Walker on June 5 in a rematch of the 2010 election which Walker won by five percentage points.
Governor Walker easily defeated token opposition in Tuesday’s primary. Despite the fact Walker only had token opposition, he received 626,538 votes, more than Barrett and Falk combined.
Mahlon Mitchell, president of the state firefighters’ union, defeated one protest candidate and a third opponent to win the Democratic primary for Wisconsin lieutenant governor. He will now challenge Republican incumbent Rebecca Kleefisch next month.
In Outagamie County, Barrett received 8,569 to Falk’s 7,413; Vinehout 576, LaFollette 557 and Huber 198. Walker received 22,944.
Seymour: Barrett 147, Falk 147, Walker 430; Black Creek: Barrett 43, Falk 38, Walker 158; Shiocton: Barrett 32, Falk 37, Walker 112; Nichols: Barrett 5, Falk 9, Walker 41.
Two debates set
Governor Walker’s campaign has announce the governor will be participating in two statewide televised debates leading up to the general election on June 5.
“Governor Walker is excited to discuss the positive effects that the bold reforms put in place last year have brought to the people of Wisconsin and how those reforms are moving the state forward,” said Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews. “He looks forward to the robust debates and contrasting his record of success that has laid the foundation for a successful future against the failed policies of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett that would take the state backward.”
The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association will host the first debate on Friday, May 25, and the second is scheduled for Thursday, May 31, hosted by WISN 12 UPFRONT with Mike Gousha, in partnership with Marquette University Law School, WisPolitics.com, and the UpFront network of affiliates. These two debates will run statewide and will have the largest available audience of voters in Wisconsin to be able to see first-hand the differences between Governor Walker and Tom Barrett’s approaches to state government.
