Wisconsin election officials on Monday officially ordered a recount in the state Senate recall in Racine, at the request of Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard, who trailed Democratic candidate John Lehman by 834 votes after the final tally.
Lehman’s apparent win gives Democrats a new 17-16 majority in the state Senate, following their failure to unseat Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
With the current margin in the race above 0.5 percent, Wanggaard will have to pay some costs — but not very much. The state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in the state, told TPM that Wanggaard would pay $5 per ward involved in the recount, for a total of $685 at most. (One ward in a commercial area, with no votes cast, is likely to be excluded.) All recount costs above that amount will be absorbed by the local governments involved.
