Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg conceded defeat on Tuesday to conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser, in a race that was widely seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s divisive legislation stripping most state workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.
Kloppenburg admitted defeat after a statewide recount reaffirmed Prosser’s victory over her in the April 5 election.
“David Prosser has won the election and I have congratulated him,” Kloppenburg said in a news conference in Madison. “I will not be requesting judicial review of the results of the recount.”
After initial election returns showed Kloppenburg with a narrow victory of about 200 votes, she declared herself the winner the day after the election. But the next day, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced she had failed to report 14,000 votes. The new votes gave Prosser a 7,316-vote lead.
Kloppenburg picked up only 312 votes during the recount, which uncovered no widespread problems, meaning Prosser won by 7,004 votes, or just 0.46 percent of the votes cast.
Full Article: Challenger in Wisconsin court race concedes – chicagotribune.com.