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| Turnout | 57.8% ( 8.1%) | ||||||||||||||||
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  Walker: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Barrett: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 50% No data | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Wisconsin |
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The 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election was a special election to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. It resulted in voters re-electing incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker over the Democratic candidate Tom Barrett by a larger margin than in 2010 when Walker also faced Barrett. Recall organizers opposed Walker's agenda, particularly his limiting of collective bargaining rights for state employees[1] and they collected over 900,000 signatures to initiate the recall election process.[1] There was also a recall for Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. She won her race, defeating Democrat Mahlon Mitchell, making her the first lieutenant governor to run in and survive a recall.[2]
The Democratic primaries took place on May 8. The recall elections were held June 5[3] with Walker defeating Barrett. Walker was thus the first U.S. governor to continue in office after facing a recall election.[4]
Four state senate recall elections took place the same day as the gubernatorial recall elections, resulting in two wins by Republican incumbents, one open seat win by a Republican, and one win by a Democratic challenger, giving Democrats control of the state Senate for the remainder of the year.[5]
The recall election was just the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history and the first one in which the incumbent was not defeated.[6] The other recall elections were the 1921 North Dakota gubernatorial recall election (which successfully recalled Lynn Frazier), the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election (which successfully recalled Gray Davis). Since 2012, the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election has become the second recall election to fail to defeat the incumbent.
As of 2024, this is the last governor election in which the Republican candidate won the counties of Eau Claire, Sauk, Green, and Vernon.
Voter turnout in the election was 57.8 percent, the highest for a gubernatorial election not on a presidential ballot in Wisconsin history up to that point.[7] The election was widely covered on national television.
- ^ a b Scott Bauer (June 4, 2012). "Wisconsin recall battle finally goes to voters". Boston Globe. Associated Press. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ "Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch survives recall election". News8000.com. June 5, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ Hall, Dee J. (March 15, 2012). "Judge OKs petition review extension, June 5 recall election". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ NBC, CNN, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, CBS News.
- ^ Stephanie Jones (June 5, 2012). "Lehman declares win". Journaltimes.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ Davey, Monica (May 31, 2012). "Recall Election Could Foretell November Vote". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
- ^ Gilbert, Craig (June 27, 2012). "Recall turnout June 5: high in most places, insanely high in some". JSOnline. Retrieved July 23, 2012.