Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Wisconsin Governor Race 2014


According to ABC News' "14 for 14" Project, the race for Governor of Wisconsin is one to watch this year.  Wisconsin is a complicated state politically.  It is not clearly a blue state or a red state.  In fact, Wisconsin claims a Democrat Senator (Tammy Baldwin) and a Republican Senator (Ron Johnson). In addition, there are three U.S. Representatives for each of these two major parties.  Congressional representation is evenly split between red and blue.  However, in the two most recent presidential elections, Wisconsin's electoral votes went to the Democrats and Barack Obama.  In fact, the last time Wisconsin's electoral votes went to a Republican candidate was for Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Currently, the incumbent Scott Walker is seeking re-election.  As ABC News points out, "Scott Walker is the only governor in American history to win a gubernatorial recall election, and he's governed as a budget-cutting, union-breaking conservative in a purple state."

A local school board member, Democrat Mary Burke, is running against the incumbent, Governor Walker.  This election highlights how divided the political culture remains in Wisconsin; especially after the controversial protests against Walker throughout his first term and his ability to battle through them and remain in office.

As NPR's Melissa Block highlights, Mary Burke is not afraid of the Obama Effect and is campaigning with the President's help in Wisconsin cities like Madison and Milwaukee.  This is interesting because while other Democrats actively avoid association with the President during the campaign season, Mary Burke recognizes that the President can help her ground game in African-American districts that turned out for Obama in the past.

The key issue of this race connects back to Governor Walker's controversial signing of anti-union legislation that limited the collective bargaining rights of union members in the states.  In addition, political pundits are watching this race closely.  If Walker, a conservative, can win again in a purple state, it shows potential for him as a Republican candidate in the 2016 presidential election.

According to Real Clear Politics, there is no clear leader in this race.  While Governor Walker held a strong lead in the polls back in May, they are in a dead heat.

Not only will we find out Wisconsin's future governor on Election Day, we will also find out about Walker's chances of throwing his hat into the ring in 2016.

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