Let's be honest: This outcome has been a fait accompli since the day after the election itself -- and certainly since vote recanvassing was completed. Now, at long last, the "it's over" memo has arrived in JoAnne Kloppenburg's mailbox. Via Politico's Ben Smith:
A Democratic source emails that the long aftermath of a charged judicial race in Wisconsin is finally ending today. JoAnne Kloppenburg will announce at 11 a.m. Central that that she's not going to contest the results of the recount in court, the source says.
Democrats had initially seen the recount as a remedy to doubts about one county's late results, but as those doubts faded it was increasingly seen as a costly distraction from intense recall campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
This result is not only politically satisfying for Wisconsin conservatives, it also may have concrete policy repercussions in the very near future.
UPDATE - It's officially over:
Kloppenburg: David Prosser has won election and I have congratulated him.