According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser just took a 7,000+ vote lead over challenger Joanne Kloppenburg.
Kloppenburg, pictured here without her broomstick, had held a 204 vote lead according to results reported by the Associated Press. Based on this, Kloppenburg declared victory yesterday and promised to bring "new blood" to the Court. She didn't specify whether that new blood was to be from a sacrificed virgin or just the menses of a Satyress, but that now appears to be a moot point.
It's moot because Prosser picked up 7,582 votes in Waukesha County today. Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus is scheduled to appear at a news conference any minute to explain this dramatic change. However, reports indicate that discrepancy was due to a computer error.
Apparently Waukesha County uses an an antiquated personal computer to store county election results instead of a newer data system that is being utilized elsewhere in the state. This somehow led to the results from the city of Brookfield to be excluded from yesterday's tally. Brookfield is a Republican stronghold, and with the city's votes included Prosser gained enough votes to put him solidly in the lead.
So it looks like the conservative Prosser has held on to his job. It was a close call though: a virtual dead-heat with nearly one and a half million total votes cast. Wow.
Of course, things could still change. Perhaps Kloppenburg can conjure up several thousand votes with some help from an eye of newt and a twitch of her nose.
(Disclaimer to the humorless: Ms. Kloppenburg is not, to the best of my knowledge, actually a witch.)
Article comments
1 - fred
yeah, seems if she could, maybe she'd deal with that medusa visage she's carrying around...and the hair...yikes.
2 - Glenn Contrarian
Nope - ain't gonna happen. They just 'found' many more uncounted ballots from a strongly Republican-leaning county.
3 - RJ
I'm aware, Glenn. In fact, that's what the whole article is about. (Well, that and witch jokes.)
Why the scare quotes around the word "found?" You believe this is a conspiracy?
4 - handyguy
Of course not, RJ. When things go your way, they're always perfectly legitimate, however odd or unexpected. When the Dems unexpectedly win an election, you must of course demand an explanation for the outrage.
Politics is just like a football game -- fans gotta yell against the other side, no matter how boorish or idiotic it makes them appear. Right?
5 - Glenn Contrarian
It's probably not a conspiracy...but I do want to hear the whole story. For instance, why is it that the one in charge for elections in the municipality in question kept all that data on her personal computer.
6 - Dave Nalle
Earlier on they "found" several hundred ballots in a Democrat precinct which brought her as close as she came to catching up in the race.
I can tell you from personal experience that they don't need a conspiracy to lose ballots and screw up a count. The level of competence among the people who work in county elections offices is not high.
Dave
7 - Clavos
The level of competence among the people who work in county elections offices is not high.
The level of competence of government -- any government -- in this country is not high.
8 - Clavos
Further to #7:
The lack of competence stems directly from the absence of accountability for government employees.
9 - handyguy
Apparently, however incompetent government employees are [or however incompetent conservatives need to keep convincing themselves they are], the size of this particular error, as a percentage of votes cast, is considered shocking by people who have been around Wisconsin elections for decades.
10 - El Bicho
Considering the level of competence shown by the writer and editor of this article, not sure why govt workers should be held to a higher standard
11 - RJ
Heh.
12 - handyguy
The witch jokes are gratuitous, ugly in spirit, and not at all surprising from this particular contributor.
13 - Clavos
And "gratuitous, ugly in spirit" jokes about Sarah Palin and her family are all over the 'net, including here on Blogcritics. So what? If they can't take the abuse they shouldn't be in politics.
14 - Clavos
Considering the level of competence shown by the writer and editor of this article, not sure why govt workers should be held to a higher standard
Well, lessee.
They're getting paid?
15 - Dr Dreadful
The lack of competence stems directly from the absence of accountability for government employees.
That is entirely your perception, Clav. Although my employer is not the federal government, we do run federal programs, and I can assure you that the level of accountability is very high - sometimes, IMO, unnecessarily so.
16 - Clavos
Um, Doc, with all due respect, not to the point of dismissal in most of the fed. Certainly not to the degree that exists in the private sector.
17 - Dr Dreadful
Clav, it'd be interesting to see if anyone's compiled stats or done any comparison studies that we could look at.
I do know that in my business, it's the agency as a whole which is held accountable. If the problem is a cultural one within an organization, firing any particular individual isn't often going to help. HUD audits housing authorities regularly and classifies their performance as either High, Standard or Troubled. If an agency persists in the latter classification even after being given deadlines to fix things, HUD will unleash something called TARC - the Troubled Agency Recovery Center - which has the power to come in, fire and replace all of the staff, from the Executive Director down, and manage the agency directly until it's back on its feet. It's done so numerous times, notably in San Francisco a few years ago.
18 - Clavos
Clav, it'd be interesting to see if anyone's compiled stats or done any comparison studies that we could look at.
I've been looking since you posted that, Doc, with no luck so far.
19 - El Bicho
"And "gratuitous, ugly in spirit" jokes about Sarah Palin and her family are all over the 'net, including here on Blogcritics."
Please link to those Newsflashes and we'll see about getting those removed from the feature as well
20 - Baronius
Yike. That IS ugly.
I mean the article, not the picture.
21 - Clavos
Please link to those Newsflashes and we'll see about getting those removed from the feature as well
Thanks, EB, but I don't need your help.
22 - Boeke
I suppose that next the dems will dig up a hidden cache of dem votes that swings it thw other way.