Crazy Kloppy, wastin’ my money. JSOnline:
JoAnne Kloppenburg certainly had the right to ask for a statewide recount on Wednesday.
But we had hoped that she wouldn’t – and the state would be better off if she hadn’t.
We understand the motivation. The final county-by-county canvassing of the state Supreme Court election revealed that Justice David Prosser won a narrow victory, a reflection of how polarizing the new governor and his policies have become. The heat generated by the controversy over those policies most likely spurred the significant turnout for a spring nonpartisan election and a 7,316-vote win for Prosser – less than 0.5% of the 1.5 million votes cast.
That’s slim, but it’s not likely that a statewide recount will change the outcome. Were it a margin in the hundreds of votes, perhaps, but Kloppenburg has to recognize that it’s not.
The state Government Accountability Board says it is ready for a recount; the board had anticipated that one would be requested. But it is already requesting some $40,000 extra to deal with a possible 16 recall elections anticipated as a result of some senators leaving the state to avoid a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining proposals and other senators voting for them.
Earlier, the GAB said a statewide recount in the Supreme Court race might cost as much as $1 million. Given that the state is already scrambling in its current budget to make ends meet and that the next budget won’t be any prettier, this is an expense the state can ill afford.
More here.
Tweet