Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's survival in a recall election sparked by steps to weaken public unions could embolden fellow Republicans in other states to seek similar measures.
In 2004, when President George W. Bush was re-elected by 3.5 million votes, he had a message to deliver about the mandate he had won. "I earned capital in this campaign, political capital," he said, "and now I intend to spend it."
With Tuesday's recall vote, taxpayers in Wisconsin affirmed Gov. Scott Walker's reforms and put an end to the state's unholy alliance between big government and big labor. The reign of entrenched public sector unions may be over and a new era of self-governing fiscal responsibility beginning.
Republicans scored a decisive victory Tuesday in the bitter Wisconsin recall election as Gov. Scott Walker beat back Democratic challenger Tom Barrett and his organized labor allies to keep his seat in Madison.
CNN's Tom Foreman reports on Wisconsin's ferocious gubernatorial recall campaign thundering to a conclusion.
Millions of phone calls have been made. Thousands of yard signs are posted on Badger State lawns. Television ads blanket the Wisconsin airwaves.
Wisconsin voters inundated by advertising and door-to-door canvassing began delivering their judgment Tuesday on whether to recall Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican hero for pushing austerity measures that stripped collective bargaining rights from most public unions.
In the canon of political cliches, "it all comes down to turnout" is among the most tired.
CNN's Erin Burnett tackles the impact of Tuesday's Wisconsin recall election on this year presidential race.
Sure, there are things at stake in Tuesday's recall election for governor of Wisconsin. You need to know only a smidgeon about the politics of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the Democratic challenger Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to be aware of that. You need to have paid only passing attention to the political battle that has engulfed Wisconsin for 16 months to know that.
Many have tried, especially in California, but few have managed to successfully oust a U.S. governor through a recall election.
Embattled Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, an anti-union darling of the tea party and other fiscal conservatives, faces off Tuesday against Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a high-stakes recall election that politicos say could foreshadow the contentious November general contest.
Candy Crowley reports on Wisconsin's high-profile recall election and what it could mean for the presidential candidates.
Wisconsin governor candidate Tom Barrett (D) on whether the recall election will have national implications in the Fall.
Fueled by the power of organized labor, the passion of the tea party and millions in outside money, it is politics gone wild in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican hero for austerity measures that stripped collective bargaining rights from most public unions, spent a final day campaigning before Tuesday's recall election that brought lots of outside interest and money to the state.
In Wisconsin, supporters of the conservative governor are taking their pitch on the road. CNN's Chris Welch reports.
To Oriannah Paul and many on the right, embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a hero who stood on principles and took the state out of the red and created a surplus.
Gov. Chris Christie campaigns for Gov. Scott Walker, cracking jokes and reminding crowds of liberal budget deficits.
When voters in Wisconsin decide whether to recall Gov. Scott Walker next month, they'll also be shaping the dialogue going into the fall.
Mitt Romney explains what a Romney win in Wisconsin could mean for the GOP nomination.
My 91-year-old mother finds a lot of things aggravating. Drugstores that run out of things that are on sale. Typos. And phone calls from Mitt Romney. Quite a few phone calls from Mitt Romney. Also from Rick Santorum. And other people advocating for each of them. She's had enough. Also the television ads. Do they have to run so many?
States are getting $2.5 billion from the national mortgage settlement, but not all of that money is going to help troubled homeowners.
In a stunning achievement for unionists and Democrats, critics of the Wisconsin governor Scott Walker marshaled over a million signatures for a petition that has made it possible for Walker to lose his office in a recall election this spring. If so, that would be the first successful gubernatorial recall in Wisconsin history and only the third in that of the United States.
More than a million people have signed a petition to recall Wisconsin's governor, the state's Democratic Party said Tuesday.
Embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker could face a recall election down the line. Ted Rowlands reports.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signs a contentious law curbing collective bargaining rights for most state employees.
Wisconsin Democrats' failed effort to seize control of the state Senate in Tuesday's special elections left some Republican groups cheering, but analysts in the state cautioned against seeing the results as a national rallying point for the GOP.
CNN's Ted Rowlands reports from Wisconsin where six GOP state senators are fighting to keep their jobs in a recall vote.
Republicans retained four of the six state Senate seats that were in jeopardy in Tuesday's recall elections in Wisconsin, news media in the state reported.
Polls closed Tuesday night in Wisconsin's recall elections as six Republican state senators who supported Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to hobble public employee unions fought to hold onto their seats.
Wisconsin's battle over labor rights shifted toward a series of recall elections Wednesday after the state's highest court reinstated a bitterly contested law that restricts collective bargaining for state workers.
Wisconsin's top court Tuesday reinstated a contentious law that curbs the collective bargaining rights of most state employees. Opponents of the law said the fight will now be taken to those who supported it.
Eighty years after Hoovervilles sprung up around the country, and four months after tens of thousands descended on the Wisconsin state capitol, progressives have a new home in what they're calling Walkerville.
A Wisconsin judge struck down that state's controversial new collective bargaining law Thursday, ruling that GOP legislators failed to provide sufficient public notice before passing the measure this year.
A candidate for Wisconsin state Supreme Court justice has asked the Government Accountability Board to investigate possible violations of state election law by Waukesha County election officials.
A Wisconsin judge on Thursday dismissed one of three lawsuits challenging the state's controversial collective bargaining law.
The controversial governor of Wisconsin defended his efforts to limit public employees' collective bargaining rights and make them pay more toward pension and health care costs at a congressional hearing on Thursday.
Union workers are set to march Monday, linking their fight for their rights to the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Wisconsin woman, apparently enraged over the new state law that limits collective bargaining for government workers, is being accused of sending e-mails to 16 Republican state senators threatening to kill them.
Some Republican governors in the Midwest find themselves dealing with budget shortfalls and decreasing popularity.
A Wisconsin Judge has continued her temporary restraining order barring a new collective bargaining law from taking effect by signing an amended order on Thursday.
State workers and others rallied at the New Hampshire capitol in Concord Thursday -- one day after the state House approved a package that would reduce collective bargaining rights.
Amid a debate over whether Wisconsin's new collective bargaining law had taken effect, a Wisconsin judge again put it on hold Tuesday and warned anyone against trying to implement it.
Wisconsin Democratic state Sen. Fred Risser says a bill curbing collective bargaining rights was passed illegally.
The litigious and contentious battle in Wisconsin over collective bargaining rights has a new twist -- the publishing of the law despite a judge's order against such a move.
The growing push to restrict the collective bargaining rights of government employees has reached the far-flung state of Alaska.
Wisconsin's Republican attorney general on Monday appealed a judge's decision to halt the enactment of a controversial new law that curbs the collective bargaining rights of most state employees.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed into law a bill that curbs the bargaining rights of most state workers.
A Wisconsin judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday halting the state's controversial budget repair law that curbs the union power of most public employees, the Dane County district attorney's office said.
Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin to protest the governor's bid to curb the bargaining rights of public workers were greeted Saturday by cheering crowds and vowed to continue the fight.
A contentious political battle that brought thousands to the state Capitol drew to a close Friday as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a bill that curbs the bargaining rights of most state workers.
Wisconsin Republican senators pass an abridged version of a bill that curbs rights to collective bargaining.
After weeks of demonstrations in the state capital, Wisconsin Republicans cleared a final hurdle to a controversial proposal on Thursday after the state's Assembly passed an amended version of a bill that would curtail the bargaining rights of most state workers.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest in the stalemate between Wisconsin Democrats and the governor over the budget.
An e-mail exchange released by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's office on Tuesday has revealed a series of potential Republican concessions to a three-week standoff over a budget bill that would restrict the collective bargaining rights of most public workers.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday dismissed as "ridiculous" a letter from a Democratic state Senate leader who suggested a meeting "near the Wisconsin-Illinois border" to discuss the state's budget impasse.
Some political experts have said that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in a battle with public employee unions over the right to collective bargaining, has overreached in his attempts to shore up the state's budget shortfall.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says there are "dire consequences" if Democratic senators don't return to work.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday warned 14 absent lawmakers trying to stall his controversial budget bill to return to the state Capitol immediately to vote on the measure, or layoff notices will be sent to 1,500 public employees before the weekend.
CNN's Casey Wian talks to supporters and opponents of the proposed restrictions on Wisconsin government unions.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's administration on Friday issued notices to unions, warning them of possible layoffs in early April if the budget impasse continues.
Video shows police in Wisconsin tackling state Rep. Nick Milroy to the ground outside the state capitol building.
Wisconsin Democrats stand firm in protest of a bill that curbs collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Wisconsin Senate Republicans on Wednesday adopted a resolution that would fine missing Democrats $100 every day they remain away from the state capital, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told reporters.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says after his budget bill passes, tempers will subside.
There were a handful of empty chairs in the Wisconsin Capitol Tuesday as Governor Scott Walker delivered his biennial budget address, defending a proposal that would curb the collective bargaining rights of most public employees.
Three weeks after igniting a firestorm of protest from unions, Gov. Scott Walker introduced a budget Tuesday that would slash more than $1.25 billion from aid to schools and local governments. Walker stressed that the aid won't be missed if the legislature votes to severely curtail public employees' collective bargaining power. That's because school districts and local governments will be able to raise workers' contributions to their health care and pensions, saving a total of $1.5 billion.
Wisconsin protesters geared up for a third week of demonstrations on Monday as Democratic lawmakers were again missing from the state capitol, protesting a bill that would curb collective bargaining rights for most public workers.
Two governors, a Democrat and a Republican, are employing different methods to reduce major budget shortfalls.
Union workers and activists who refused to leave the Wisconsin Capitol building Sunday, against orders, will be allowed to spend the night, police said.
A coalition spearheaded by liberal advocacy group Moveon.org held rallies across the country Saturday in support of public employees and others outraged at the Wisconsin budget-cutting bill they consider an attack on unions.
A prank caller got Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to reveal details of his strategy in his battle over union rights.
Ian Murphy, the online news website editor who duped Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker into taking a prank call by posing as a billionaire conservative activist, told CNN Thursday that Walker is a "delusional" politician seeking to help wealthy GOP backers.
State Assembly lawmakers in Wisconsin are poised to vote on a controversial budget-repair bill that would curb public workers' collective-bargaining rights and raise their contributions to pensions and health insurance plans.
'Daffy' Gadhafi
updated: Wed Feb 23 2011 13:58:00
Is Gadhafi really daffy? We look at him as he looks in a mirror. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.
Politics is serious business -- but not all the time.
Embattled Republican Gov. Scott Walker fired back at opponents of a budget bill that would increase the costs of benefits to public employees and curb their collective bargaining rights, describing in a written statement how current agreements give too much power to unions.
Democrats in Wisconsin's State Senate remain out of town as Republicans get back to work today.
A few days ago, I wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com explaining why teachers in Wisconsin -- and throughout the nation -- are angry, and it isn't just because Gov. Scott Walker asked them to pay more for their pensions and health-care benefits. They are angry because of the unwarranted public vilification that has been heaped on them for the past two years.
A Wisconsin Democrat is accusing the state's governor of deliberately blocking their websites.
A left-leaning website that union supporters used to rally protesters in Wisconsin was partially blocked as demonstrators gathered in the state Capitol over a controversial budget bill.
Protestors continue to demonstrate against Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget cuts in Madison, Wisconsin.
Tea Party activists supporting a bill that would slash collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin public employees flocked to Madison on Saturday, bringing a new dimension to a budget battle that shows few signs of compromise.
The newly elected executive began implementing his campaign platform in a tough economic environment.
For about a week, tens of thousands of men, women and children have been gathering at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, protesting Gov. Scott Walker's "budget repair" bill. Besides requiring sharp increases in employee contributions to pension and health insurance benefits, the bill strips most of the state's public sector unions of almost all their collective bargaining rights.
This week's bitter budget showdown in Wisconsin isn't the first time state legislators have fled a state, left a building or refused to show when votes were called.
Embattled Republican Gov. Scott Walker defended a budget bill that would slash public workers' benefits and most collective bargaining rights in an effort to address Wisconsin's impending $3.6 billion dollar deficit.
From coast to coast, new governors warn of tough times ahead but vow a commitment to bi-partisanship.
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown returned to his state's highest office Monday -- restoring an old political dynasty while helping to usher in a new balance of power in statehouses across the country.
An Obama administration initiative that aims to create jobs and economic growth has been derailed in some states while it speeds along in others.
Republican John Kasich promises a new brand of leadership as Ohio's next governor.
The Great Lakes became the Red Sea on Tuesday as Republicans steamed across the region with victory after victory.
Republicans appeared to have regained the majority of U.S. governorships Tuesday night, capturing 10 in states where the previous executives were Democrats, according to CNN projections of exit poll data.
New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino urges supporters to continue fighting for the ideals of their campaign.
Here's what you need to know right now as results come in for Tuesday's midterm election:
Three-term Democrat Russ Feingold faces a major challenge from Republican and Tea Party favorite Ron Johnson.
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