GAB Declares Prosser the Winner of Supreme Court Race

A state elections agency this morning declared incumbent state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser Jr. the winner of another 10-year term on the high court, giving challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg until May 31 to challenge the results.

The state Government Accountability Board certified the statewide election results, which gave Prosser the win with 50.54% of the 1.5 million votes cast, or 7,004 votes more than Kloppenburg. 

Another 1,729 write-in votes were cast for other individuals. The GAB web site has county-by-county results of the recount. 

“I look forward to taking the oath of office and continuing to serve in a fair and independent manner as a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Prosser said in a statement.

Kloppenburg has five business days to decide whether to challenge the results. Her campaign has consistently said it was concerned about anomalies around the state and particularly in Waukesha County, where representatives unsuccessfully challenged the count of ballots inside bags that were .

The statewide recount is the first since 1989, and the first one involving candidates since 1858.

Elections Division Administrator Nathaniel E. Robinson said the GAB will review the recount process to analyze areas for improvement.

The Board required explanations for any reporting units that had a difference of 10 or more votes in the recount. A total of 23 reporting units, out of more than 3,600 reporting units in the state, indicated such variances. 

“The recount served the dual purpose of verifying correct vote totals for the candidates and public, as well as providing an opportunity for state and local election officials to evaluate procedures for conducting elections and canvassing results,” Robinson said.  

“Overall, I am very pleased and proud of the performance of our election partners at the municipal and county level in conducting the recount.  We recognize that this is an unexpected and unbudgeted task, and their efforts will help us to further improve our training and election administration.”

Perhaps the most extensive record for a court review was made in Waukesha County, where officials hired a court reporter to record findings and challenges. Kloppenburg's campaign also had a court reporter in Waukesha County, but only for the first few days. Waukesha County also live-streamed the recount on its web site.

Patch has  and  of some of the recount processes in Waukesha County, as well as disputed. 

The county also tapped retired Waukesha County Circuit Judge Robert Mawdsley to oversee the recount, after Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus recused herself. The county also hired Barb Hansen, former GAB deputy and a 21-year employee of the state Elections Board to assist Mawdsley.

Nickolaus said she didn't want to be a distraction after she became a lightning rod following her announcement two days after election that she had in her countywide tally election night. Including the city's votes changed the outcome from Kloppenburg, who declared victory election night with a 200-vote margin, to Prosser, who suddenly was ahead by 7,316 votes.

Brookfield's votes, however, were , with election night ward-by-ward tallies provided by the City of Brookfield clerk's office. 

After the recount, : Prosser picked up 3 votes in Brookfield and Kloppenburg picked up one. , with Prosser gaining 68 votes and Kloppenburg adding 19.