Interesting results from the Dairy State. We're gonna have ourselves a new Attorney General, we have the race set in the 8th, and hopefully we got ourselves some good Democrats for the Assembly & State Senate races. A bit of a review is in order:
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1. There will be a new Attorney General in Wisconsin. Dance County Executive Kathleen Falk defeated incumbent Peg Lautenschlager 53-47%. Falk will face Republican J.B. Van Hollen, who defeated Waukesha County DA Paul Bucher 60-40%. This might be a best-case scenario for Democrats most interested in keeping this seat in the D column. For starters, in the limited polling I've seen done on this race, Of the 4 possible combinations for the general election amongst the 4 candidates facing off in the primary, the Falk-Van Hollen matchup had the largest margin, with Falk up by, I believe, 20-ish points. True, lots of undecideds. But Falk was closing in on 50% while Van Hollen was still in the 20s. The escalating ad campaign will likely move up Van Hollen, but Falk has the advantage.
I was surprised how much Falk & Van Hollen won statewide. Here in western Wisconsin, Falk got good numbers especially around Eau Claire, while Lautenschlager won in the northwest (likely the after-effect of her being the lead prosecutor in the Vang deer hunter murder trial). Falk actually lost Dane County, but my understanding is the Falk campaign focused on increasing margins elsewhere. Meanwhile, Bucher seemed invisible in this part of the state, though he did win a couple counties near the Twin Cities. No shock that Van Hollen won.
Most importantly, this takes the OWI off the table. A non-issue with Lautenschlager gone. So, what Democrats were most fearing has been taken care of. It is true that there was word Lautenschlager might have been able to survive in the general election regardless, but state Democrats are likely breathing a bit easier today.
2. Steve Kagen is the nominee in the 8th district. We already know about the national GOP ads attacking Kagen for suing 80 patients, so you can see where this race is going. Also, there's supposedly a pro-Gard ad featuring a Democratic state legislator praising Gard (he's a conservative, which is about the only way I can figure that one). I'm sure this one will get plenty of Daily Kos coverage as we shoot for the House majority.
3. Local races: Among many others, one that stands out in this part of the state is Kathleen Vinehout winning the Democratic nod to take on incumbent Republican Ron Brown. I heard Brown's first ads today, talking up how he can be called in for emergencies since he was a former fire chief and tying that into his Senate service, plus his anti-tax stand. Vinehout was the only one of the Dems to run ads (that I know of) on TV & radio. A district that should be Democratic, this will be one of many critical campaigns.
Others can comment on races in their part of the state to enlighten us on what happened in the primary.
Also, a note on Ben Masel, a frequent commenter on a lot of these Wisconsin-related diaries. He did lose 86-14%, but as a fellow Kossack, I did cast my vote for Masel.