Wisconsin Republican voters just did a rare thing in the middle of this tumultuous primary night: Nominate a candidate for governor who had waited his turn and was backed by the party organization.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has defeated former Rep. Mark Neumann, who previously lost the 1998 Senate race to Dem Russ Feingold by a narrow margin. With 62% of precincts reporting, Walker leads Neumann by 58%-39%.
Walker previously ran for governor briefly during the 2006 election cycle, but dropped out in order to yield to the establishment favorite, Congressman Mark Green, who went on to lose in that very blue year to Dem Gov. Jim Doyle. He never truly stopped running, of course, and the establishment then rallied around him for this election. Neumann kept running, though, and self-financed his campaign. But in the end, Walker held on.
Walker will now face Democrat Tom Barrett, the mayor of the city of Milwaukee. The TPM Poll Average gives Walker a lead of 49.0%-42.9%.
(Full disclosure: I was a volunteer back in 2002 for Barrett’s first gubernatorial campaign, in the Democratic primary. I have not had any additional political involvement with him since that time.)
