WI-SEN

Wis. GOP Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald Running For Senate

Eric Kleefeld | August 30, 2011, 10:25AM

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R)

Another Republican has thrown his hat into the ring for the Wisconsin Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl. And the latest candidate has a big name: State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald -- who along with his brother, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, and Gov. Scott Walker, has been instrumental in passing the anti-public employee union legislation that sparked the wave of protests, recall elections, and other big controversies in Wisconsin.

Fitzgerald confirmed his candidacy to the Wausau Daily Herald on Monday:

He said he would apply his experience in the Wisconsin Legislature to the Senate.

"We have the same problems here (in Wisconsin) as we have in D.C.," he said, citing excessive taxation as an example. He said the national debt must be brought under control and that "we need to start making stuff in this country."

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WI-SEN

GOPer Mark Neumann Announces Senate Campaign In Wisconsin

Eric Kleefeld | August 29, 2011, 1:56PM

Former Rep. Mark Neumann (R-WI)

Former Rep. Mark Neumann (R-WI) officially launched his campaign for U.S. Senate Monday, setting up a likely Republican primary against the more moderate former Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Neumann announced his campaign in an interview with conservative talk radio host Charlie Sykes, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Neumann's likely opponent Thompson has been gearing up for the race, and has already been attacked by the conservative group the Club For Growth.

Some of Neumann's former aides now work at the Club For Growth, though Neumann said in the interview that he would not have any control over what the group does. "They support conservative candidates. We hope they'll support us," Neumann said of the Club. And regarding his former staffers, he said: "They are conservative people and they are dedicated to reducing wasteful spending."

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WI-GOV

Walker Wins GOP Primary In WI-GOV Race

Eric Kleefeld | September 14, 2010, 11:54PM

WI-GOV candidate Scott Walker (R)

Wisconsin Republican voters just did a rare thing in the middle of this tumultuous primary night: Nominate a candidate for governor who had waited his turn and was backed by the party organization.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has defeated former Rep. Mark Neumann, who previously lost the 1998 Senate race to Dem Russ Feingold by a narrow margin. With 62% of precincts reporting, Walker leads Neumann by 58%-39%.

Walker previously ran for governor briefly during the 2006 election cycle, but dropped out in order to yield to the establishment favorite, Congressman Mark Green, who went on to lose in that very blue year to Dem Gov. Jim Doyle. He never truly stopped running, of course, and the establishment then rallied around him for this election. Neumann kept running, though, and self-financed his campaign. But in the end, Walker held on.

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2010 elections

Tonight's Primaries: The Last Big Election Night Before November

Eric Kleefeld | September 14, 2010, 5:58PM

Christine O'Donnell

Tonight marks the last major night of the 2010 primary season. And what a wild and wacky season it's been -- and could still prove to be tonight.

This is the last multi-state primary night this year. After tonight, the only one primary left is Hawaii's this Saturday.

So let's take a look at some of tonight's races. There are Tea Party insurgents against establishment GOP moderates, Dems fighting it out to keep their jobs, and a whole lot of fun throughout.

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WI-GOV

Poll: GOPers Lead For WI-GOV

Eric Kleefeld | June 30, 2010, 12:40PM

WI Gov candidates Scott Walker (R) and Tom Barrett (D)

The new survey of the Wisconsin gubernatorial race by Public Policy Polling (D) finds the Republican candidates ahead of Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the open-seat race to succeed retiring Gov. Jim Doyle. The key here is that Democratic voters remain soft and uncommitted to the presumptive nominee -- which could potentially change as the race gets into crunch-time.

The numbers: Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker leads Barrett by 45%-38%. Former Rep. Mark Neumann, who left Congress in 1998 and lost a close Senate race that year against Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, leads Barrett by 41%-36%. The survey of registered voters has a ±3.9% margin of error.

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