* According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Democrats will again control the state Senate by an 18-15 margin, the same gap between the two parties of the past two years. Alberta Darling's early morning victory over Sheldon Wasserman insured the continuing margin. Associated Press has not called the race, and if Wasserman does win, the Democrats would have their largest margin in 17 years.
* Democrats will control the Assembly 52-46 with one independent, after Democrats gained five seats Tuesday. Democrat Fred Clark of Baraboo beat Rep. J.A. "Doc" Hines (R-Oxford) in the 42nd District; Democrat Ted Zigmunt of Francis Creek beat Rep. Frank Lasee (R-Green Bay) in the 2nd District; and Kristen Dexter of Eau Claire defeated Rep. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) in the 68th District. I am sad to see Doc Hines leave the Legislature. I thought he was a voice of reason. As for Frank Lasee, I had a chance to visit with him at Royal Ridges, and found him to be a political enigma. His loss likely means the end of the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) movement in Madison, which reached its peak in 2005.
* It's been 14 years since Democrats had control of the Assembly and 24 years since they had total control of the state government. With a Democratic governor, the Republican Party will find itself in a position they will have to get used to. My biggest fear is that the budget shenanigans of the past several years (structural deficits, transferring funds around, over-enthusiastic revenue projections) will continue and hamstring the state government for several years
* Mark Jefferson, the chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, has said the GOP would bide its time. In an interview with Capital Times, he said said midterms are rarely kind to incumbents, and Democrats would likely pave the way for a Republican comeback. He said voters will likely recoil when minority Republicans hammer away at the cost of Democratic initiatives on health care and taxes. I cannot agree with this approach. This is a recipe for another disaster down the road. Waiting for your enemy to move puts the GOP on the defensive for two years. The GOP needs strong leadership, and it needs to articulate its agenda, and simply not bank on taking control back in 2010 by negatively portraying the Democrats. I would even argue that a "big tent" approach may be required to keep the door open for centrists and moderates to join the GOP effort down the road. I would urge Jefferson to get out in front, and organize the GOP by shoring up its existing base and opening the debate to make it inclusive in the very near future.
