Kloppenburg concedes election to Prosser

[WestVirginiaRebel]

jsonline.com:

Madison - Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg on Tuesday conceded the Supreme Court race to Justice David Prosser, ending a contentious campaign that culminated in a rare statewide recount.

Kloppenburg made the concession at a Madison news conference just more than a week after the state's Government Accountability Board reported that the final count showed Prosser with 7,006 more votes - a thin margin but one unlikely to change. She said she had called Prosser on Tuesday morning to congratulate him and say she would not seek to challenge his victory in court.

"It would serve no purpose to bring a suit with insufficient legal basis. That is not the kind of lawyer that I am," Kloppenburg said.

The move paves the way for Prosser to begin a new, 10-year term on Aug. 1 without a legal case prolonging the uncertainty of the extensive recount. Kloppenburg defended her decision to seek the taxpayer-funded recount, saying it had ensured the integrity of the election and uncovered "widespread irregularities" that she is outlining to state elections officials in a letter.

Prosser thanked Kloppenburg for a "very gracious" concession and said he hadn't doubted his victory in spite of the difficult campaign. The Prosser campaign scrambled to respond to the concession, organizing an impromptu news conference in which the justice spoke from a podium fashioned from a cardboard box and leather notebook.

"I have come through with a greater appreciation of our political process and an enormous gratitude to the people of Wisconsin," Prosser said.
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Once more, with feeling: