Election Showdown in Wisconsin Deals Apparent Blow to Anti-Union Antagonists

David Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg

Tuesday was a big day in Wisconsin, as the state held a closely watched election for justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

It’s a race that normally draws little interest even within the Badger State, and the results are similarly anemic; only 5 justices since the 1860′s have been ousted in a popular vote. But the political and policy drama that played out in the state since the beginning of the tear transformed the contest into a much-hyped barometer of political power within the state and even a test of “Tea Party” influence nationally.

The election for a seat on the state Supreme Court pitted JoAnne Kloppenburg, assistant Attorney General, against conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser.  Though officially a non-partisan match, the campaign was anything but.

The passions stirred up by the ongoing fight over the agenda of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled state legislature, and their efforts to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights, turned Kloppenburg vs. Prosser into a fight for both bragging rights and political momentum between Walker and his conservative supporters and the labor groups that have resisted the push to end bargaining rights for state workers.

Justice Prosser was seen as both a symbolic and operational target. He is a strong conservative voice on the court, and is seen as a close ally of Gov. Walker. In fact, that connection with the increasingly unpopular new governor  became a controversy during the intense campaign.

Prosser’s campaign had issued a statement courting support for his reelection by touting that a reelected Prosser would enjoy “protecting the conservative judicial majority and acting as a common sense complement to both the new administration and Legislature.”

The Prosser campaign had also received significant support from “Tea Party” groups, corporate interests in Wisconsin and “independent” political organizations affiliated with the Koch brothers, the billionaire conservative financiers that made enormous contributions to numerous  ”pro-business” candidates — GOP and Democrat — in last year’s elections. The Kochs also bankrolled Scott Walker’s successful campaign.

One Koch-affiliated group has spent half-a-million dollars to support Prosser’s bid for another term on the state court.

As of last Friday, just three groups have spent nearly $1.4 million to keep Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) ally David Prosser on the Wisconsin Supreme Court — 40 percent more than Prosser’s opponents have spent to defeat him. Moreover, new evidence unearthed by the Center for Media and Democracy suggests that Prosser’s advantage comes from a familiar source.

Nearly $400,000 of Justice Prosser’s support comes from Citizens for a Strong America (CSA), a group with close ties to the billionaire Koch brothers.

Kloppenburg and her campaign, having become a cause celebre among national liberal and Democratic interests, also received large amounts of outside money from “independent” political organizations. But she was also endorsed by many of the labor groups that fought the collective bargaining legislation, and also received a strong endorsement from former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold.

A day after the neck-and-neck election has brought a declared, though not official, winner. With 100 percent of the votes counted, Kloppenburg is ahead by a small margin and has declared victory, though a recount is imminent. The result would tip the balance of power on the court from conservative to liberal.

Attorney JoAnne Kloppenburg has declared victory over incumbent state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser.

The results, pending the final outcome, seem to indicate a vigorous voter backlash against the policies of Gov. Walker and the state legislature, and an especially strong rebuttal of their signature effort to battle public employees and curb basic collective bargaining rights for state workers. Only months after being elected himself, Walker could witness a close ally losing a high-profile statewide race.

Walker refused to acknowledge that the election was a “referendum” on him or his agenda, stating that the results are “largely driven” by liberal enthusiasm in “Madison” or “Milwaukee.”