Free Republic

MADISON, WI (AP) — Republican Gov. Scott Walker is leading Democrat Mary Burke in the last Marquette University Law School poll released before Tuesday’s election. The poll released Wednesday showed Walker with 50 percent support, compared with 43 percent for Burke. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Walker and Burke were tied with 47 percent support in the previous poll released two weeks ago. The one before that, on Oct. 1, showed Walker with a narrow 5-point lead. The latest poll of 1,164 likely voters was done between Oct. 23 and Sunday. Walker was campaigning...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker apparently regained his stride with likely voters, opening a 7-percentage-point lead over Democratic challenger Mary Burke, according to a new Marquette Law School poll. The Marquette poll, which has an excellent track record for predicting Wisconsin election results, found that 50 percent of likely voters support Walker compared with 43 percent for Burke. Those figures represent a major shift from previous polls that showed the race neck-and-neck including an Oct. 15 poll where Walker and Burke were tied at 47 percent among likely voters. The reason for the changing tide in the Wisconsin governor's race is...

VAN DYNE, Wis. — Republican Gov. Scott Walker is under investigation, and he is reviled by the largest political force in his state. But you’d never guess that by watching him amble through the stalls at a central Wisconsin dairy farm. Walker converses with a casual ease rare among politicians. He strolls with a light step through a massive cow barn at Ruedinger Farms on Wednesday. The only thing hanging over his head is the mechanical hawk that chases away the pigeons. You wouldn’t guess from his demeanor how hated he is. County prosecutors are still investigating him. And the...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke won't take the stage with President Barack Obama when he speaks at the Labor Day rally in Milwaukee, marking the second presidential visit to Wisconsin that will pass without Burke's involvement. Both Burke and Obama will be at the "Laborfest" celebration of organized labor that attracts thousands to the shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, but Burke will be meeting privately with the president and not speaking, said her spokesman Joe Zepecki on Thursday. Republicans, including Gov. Scott Walker's campaign, said Burke was ducking Obama because his approval ratings have dipped below 50 percent in...

Just 215 votes. That's how close the Republican primary in the 6th Congressional District was on Tuesday, leaving the winner in doubt as state Sen. Glenn Grothman for now holds on to a slim lead over state Sen. Joe Leibham. At one point Tuesday night, the election looked like a clear-cut victory for Grothman, with The Associated Press declaring him the winner with a margin of victory of more than 4,800 votes. But Grothman's sizable lead evaporated as more votes came in from late-reporting Sheboygan County, where Leibham lives. The early-morning tally from Sheboygan County showed Leibham winning that county...

A third of a percentage point is all that separates Glenn Grothman and Joe Leibham in their GOP congressional primary after the unofficial vote count Wednesday morning in Wisconsin’s Sixth District. Grothman leads Leibham by 215 votes in the Associated Press tally, though the margin is slightly smaller – 213 -- based on a Journal Sentinel review of the returns posted online by each of the 11 counties in the district. A recount, which can be requested by the losing candidate, would seem likely. In AP’s unofficial count, Grothman won 36.17% of the vote, Leibham won 35.84% and Duey Stroebel...

At the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans this week, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson tried to distance himself from the Tea Party groups that helped elect him in 2010. If Ron Johnson was running any faster from the Tea Party he'd leave skid marks. Back in 2010, the Wisconsin senator was one of the Tea Party’s first candidates. His upset victory over incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in that deep purple swing state was seen as proof that a new brand of conservatism was on the march. But Johnson, a businessman and political novice when he was first elected, told reporters...

Praying for a big chest, believing in aliens and winning Wisconsin for Obama—where do we begin? Katy Perry really opened up to GQ, giving the magazine plenty of interesting —and, OK, super strange— tidbits about her life. Perry dished about her signature sexy bod, saying that her prayers were answered at the age of 11. "I lay on my back one night and looked down at my feet, and I prayed to God. I said, ‘God, will you please let me have boobs so big that I can't see my feet when I'm lying down?’… God answered my prayers. I...

While Chris Christie’s bridge scandal is dominating the headlines, a lesser-known potential scandal is brewing in Wisconsin. As the Wall Street Journal reported in November, ”a special prosecutor is targeting conservative groups that participated in the battle over Governor Scott Walker’s union reforms.” The allegation is of improper coordination between the campaign and conservative outside groups, and the real danger may simply be that a denouement isn’t reached until after November (Walker’s re-election). Already, it has been months. As Eric O’Keefe, head of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, told the Journal, he “received his subpoena in early October” and “at...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who survived a recall in 2012 largely due to the tea party, said Sunday that the tea party movement should target Democrats, not Republicans. "The answer is not to take it out on House Republicans in primaries, it's to go to Louisiana, Arkansas and North Carolina," the Republican governor said on CNN's "State of the Union," referring to Senate Democrats who are facing tough reelection campaigns in red states. Walker offered his assessment in the wake of House Speaker John Boehner's recent criticism of some conservative outside groups.

In hindsight, I think it’s safe to say the recall was what they call “overreach.” As Wisconsin Democrats gathered for their convention in one of the state’s lovely cities noted for its kind people, delicious dairy products, and unpronounceable name, they didn’t have any idea who will run against Gov. Scott Walker in 2014: OCONOMOWOC, WI (WRN) – Wisconsin Democrats repeatedly made the argument at their state convention over the weekend that Governor Scott Walker needs to be defeated in 2014. However, there continue to be few hints about exactly who will take on that challenge in the coming months.Speaking...