Cross-posted from The Nation
Wisconsin held a series of recall elections
over the course of a year, giving voters a chance to decide whether
they approved of one-party rule by Governor Scott Walker and his anti-labor Republicans.
For most of the national media, the only story that mattered -- at least
the only story they've bothered to tell -- is that of Walker's victory.
Thanks to a massive infusion of our-of-state cash, the governor retained his office -- albeit by the narrowest re-elect margin for a Republican governor since 1968.
But Wisconsinites always knew there was more to the story of the
fight to check and balance Walker. And, this week, they successfully
completed the critical struggle, ending the governor's complete control
of state government.
From his election in 2010, Walker controlled not just the executive
branch but, for all intents and purposes, the legislative branch. A pair
of loyal Republican lieutenants, brothers Jeff and Scott Fitzgerald,
made sure that the governor's wish was their command -- with Jeff
Fitzgerald running the state Assembly as its speaker and Scott
Fitzgerald running the state Senate as its majority leader.
Without the Fitzgerald brothers, Walker could not have advanced his agenda.
When Walker was elected, Republican control of both chambers seemed
to be assured for the whole of his first two years. That was
particularly true in the powerful state Senate, where the GOP held a
wide 19-14 advantage. The only power the Democrats had was that of
withdrawing consent by leaving the state, as the fourteen dissenters did
when Walker began moving to eliminate collective bargaining rights for
public employees.
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But the recall elections changed all that, ending the the arrangement that empowered Walker.
Now the Senate has a 17-16 Democratic majority.
Last summer, labor unions and their allies used recall elections to
sweep two Republican state senators out of office. With the resignation
earlier this year of a third Republican senator, Scott Fitzgerald found
himself in a power-sharing circumstance with the Democrats through the
next round of recall elections: for the governorship and several more
Senate seats.
On June 5, Walker won the governor's race. But one of his steadiest backers, state Senator Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, finished roughly 800 votes behind Democratic challenger John Lehman.
Lehman, a former legislator with a progressive, strongly pro-labor
record, campaigned as a firm foe of Walker's agenda. And national
right-wing groups such as the Koch brothers -- funded Americans for
Prosperity operation did everything in their power to beat him. They
even organized a massive final rally in southeastern Wisconsin's 21st
district, featuring House Budget Committee chair (and conservative icon)
Paul Ryan.
Even after Lehman won, the Republicans fought to prevent him from taking his seat,
with an extended recount fight, threats of legal actions and a smear
campaign suggesting that his victory (in a district with a substantial
minority population) resulted from "voting irregularities" in African-American and Hispanic precincts of the historically Democratic city of Racine.
For a time it seemed the GOP would do anything to prevent Walker from losing his iron grip on state government.
Ultimately, however, Lehman prevailed. And, on Tuesday, after he was
seated, control of the Senate formally shifted to the Democrats, with
progressive Mark Miller taking over from Scott Fitzgerald as majority
leader and Fred Risser, the longest-serving legislator in the country
and a progressive stalwart, taking over as Senate president
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John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written the Online Beat since 1999. His posts have been circulated internationally, quoted in numerous books and mentioned in debates on the floor of Congress.
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