Wisconsin Democrats scored a small but significant victory Tuesday night in the political battles over Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-public employee union legislation, picking up a Republican-held Assembly seat in a special election — in an area that is also caught up in the recall elections for the state Senate, in which Democrats hope to pick up at least three seats and take a majority in that chamber.
Three special elections were held on Tuesday night, to replace Republican legislators who had been appointed to positions in Walker’s administration. Two of them were in solidly Republican areas, and were not seriously contested. But the contested race, for the district of former state Assembly Speaker and current Walker Secretary of Administration Mike Huebsch, was also located within the Senate district of GOP state Sen. Dan Kapanke, who is facing a likely recall election.
The result: Democrat Steve Doyle 54%, Republican John Lautz 46%.
As WisPolitics reports, Doyle says Democrats are energized going into the recalls:
The Onalaska Dem said that while going door to door, “I heard, over and over again, two words: Scott Walker.”
