Barrett wins Democratic primary, to face Walker in June

[WestVirginiaRebel]

JSOnline:

Shrugging off millions of dollars spent by labor groups to defeat him, Tom Barrett strolled to victory in Tuesday's Democratic primary and set up a more taxing sprint toward June 5 - a historic recall that will be a rematch of his unsuccessful 2010 race against Gov. Scott Walker.

In the recall primary, the Milwaukee mayor easily defeated former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, showing that more than $4 million from outside groups doesn't necessarily buy a close race.

As Barrett was campaigning Tuesday, Walker was barnstorming the state and showing the fight he will bring to what is expected to be a brutal month of canvassing for one of the most important elections to state office in Wisconsin history. A poll last week showed Walker and Barrett in a dead heat.

Walker, who won over 600,000 votes despite facing only token opposition Tuesday, has been preparing for months for the fast-approaching election, raising a record $25 mil lion, while Barrett must now pivot toward this race with far fewer resources.

Addressing jubilant supporters at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee, a fiery Barrett called for unifying his party and ending Walker's term before it reaches a year and a half. Barrett, who defied unions by getting in the race, repeatedly referred to himself as the independent candidate in his speech to supporters and said he would not be beholden to special interests .

"Do we want a governor who has divided this state like it has never been divided before? Do we want a governor who has caused this state to lose more jobs than any other state in this country?" Barrett asked the crowd. "This race is not about the past. It is not about the past. It is about the future of Wisconsin."

Also Tuesday, Madison firefighter and union leader Mahlon Mitchell easily advanced to the general election for lieutenant governor by defeating private investigator Ira Robins and fake Democrat Isaac Weix in the Democratic primary. That sets up a recall election next month against GOP incumbent Rebecca Kleefisch, who did not have a primary.

Walker won his own race, crushing the liberal spoiler candidate Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who ran as a Republican. Speaking to a crowd of fired-up supporters at the GOP office in Waukesha, Walker called on voters to reject the recall and give him the rest of his four-year term.

"Do we want to go back to the days when a handful of special interests controlled our state and local governments? No. Instead, we put in place reforms that rightfully put the hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin in charge. We're not going backwards. We're going forward," Walker said.

The Democrats barely drew more votes Tuesday than Walker, in spite of the fact that their party had a competitive primary and Walker did not.

With 95% of the vote counted, Walker had nearly as many votes as all the Democrats combined in their primary.

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Not a good omen for the recall forces, or perhaps for Obama in the general election in Wisconsin.