Pro-Worker Candidates Win in Wisconsin

Tuesday's Election a Referendum on Gov. Scott Walker's Union-Busting Agenda

Wisconsin union members and allies rally outside the capitol in Madison on the eve of Tuesday's election.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's radical anti-worker agenda backfired on him Tuesday, as angry citizens turned out in droves to vote out a state Supreme Court judge allied with Walker.

If a recount confirms the 204-vote victory for JoAnne Kloppenburg, it will shift the balance of the now conservative-majority court, which ultimately could decide the legality of Walker’s bill stripping collective bargaining rights from public workers.

Members from CWA, other unions and progressive allies, and even some Republicans fed-up with Walker's arrogance worked rapidly and tirelessly to defeat incumbent Judge David Prosser and to elect pro-worker candidates in local elections statewide.

"Consider that just weeks ago incumbent candidate Prosser was leading Kloppenberg 55 percent to 25 percent," said Mark Frey, a Local 4630 steward, explaining how anger at Walker propelled people to get involved in the judicial race, the type of election that ordinarily gets little notice and low voter turnout. "The credit for this victory belongs to the people, the thousands who made calls, knocked on doors and encouraged their friends and family to vote."

Frey is one of seven CWA legislative-political coordinators in Wisconsin who "have been hard at work pretty much 24/7 for the last two months," CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said. The others are Kathy Antoniewicz, Kathy Brenden, Betsy LaFontaine, Dave Moffitt, Clinton Rodgers and Dave Tollison, along with CWA Representatives Frank Mathews and Joy Roberts.

LaFontaine, who is featured in a TV ad calling for the recall of state senators who voted for Walker's union-busting bill, said she and other LPAT members "worked hard to educate members on the consequences of their vote or not voting at all. We used face-to-face conversations, literature and social media to reach all members."

As she collects signatures on petitions for recall elections, LaFontaine is making the point she made campaigning for Tuesday's vote: That all Wisconsin workers, and all middle-class families, are being affected by Walker's agenda, not just the public workers who are facing the loss of their union rights.

Tuesday's results are encouraging for activists working on the recall effort. In addition to unseating Prosser, victories included defeating Walker's hand-picked successor for his old job as county executive in Milwaukee County. By a 61-39 margin, philanthropist Chris Abele beat Republican state Assemblyman Jeff Stone, a strong supporter of Walker's agenda to crush unions while continuing to lower corporate taxes. In Dane County, home to the capitol of Madison, Democratic state Assemblyman Joe Parisi won the executive's seat with 70 percent of the vote.

"We sent a very clear message in Wisconsin that attacking collective bargaining totally changes the political landscape," Rosen said.