Wisconsin Supreme Court Race a Dead Heat

Katie Pavlich | April 06, 2011 1:56 AM

UPDATE 1:53 AM: The race is still too close to call with nearly all precincts reporting. Prosser is currently up with 727,440 votes as Kloppenburg has brought in 725,534 votes.According to

AP, this means both are tied at 50 percent. As Guy says below, this could drag out for awhile and recounts are most likely to occur.

With two-thirds of precincts reporting in Wisconsin, incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser sits tied with union backed challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg, both taking in 50 percent of votes counted.

The winner of this race will determine whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court maintains the conservative majority of 4-3. Union bosses have been pouring cash into the race in the past two weeks, trying to sway the election in Kloppenburg's favor. This matters because Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill passed through the Wisconsin legislature, stripping state workers of the ability to collectively bargain in order to close the $3 billion state budget deficit, was struck down by a judge. It will be determined by the Wisconsin Supreme Court whether or not the bill can become law. It is predicted that if Prosser is re-elected, Walker's bill will stand before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, if Kloppenburg prevails, it is predicted Walker's bill will fail, making all the painful hours of budget negotiations and cuts moot.

Votes from the big three republican counties, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha, counties conservatives are hoping will boost Prosser to a solid victory, have not yet been counted.

At this point, the race is so close, that when and if a winner is determined, recounts and lawsuits will be sure to follow.

Get the background details on this race and why it is highly significant here.

UPDATE: Allahpundit has the scoop:

At 10 minutes to midnight, with a little more than 75 percent reporting, Kloppenburg leads by 7,000 votes with still some precincts left to report in her strongholds of Dane and Milwaukee. A friend in Wisconsin e-mailed me a few minutes ago to say that Prosser is strongly underperforming compared to how Walker did in November. The one bright spot: A few heavily Republican counties still have yet to report. Stay tuned.