Wisconsin’s Walker wins 3rd election in 4 years, part of Republican state governor sweep
Posted Nov 4, 2014 10:38 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MADISON, Wis. – Republicans swept governor’s races across the U.S. Tuesday, holding on to control of key swing states in presidential elections and scoring upsets in several Democratic bastions.. Among the victors was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a conservative favourite who won his third election in four years.
The victories boosted the presidential prospects of several likely Republican contenders, none more so than Walker, who became a hero to conservatives for taking on public sector unions, stripping them of nearly all collective bargaining authority. Opponents responded by trying to boot him from office, and he became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election in 2012.
Walker’s victory Tuesday was a blow to national Democrats and labour unions, which dumped millions of dollars into the race in an effort to derail the governor’s national ambitions.
Walker told The Associated Press that any decision about a presidential run in 2016 “will have to wait” while he pursues his agenda in Wisconsin.
“The bottom line is people elected me to get the job done in Wisconsin,” said Walker, who defeated Democratic businesswoman Mary Burke. “We’re going to spend the next couple months putting together our legislative agenda.”
Democrats, already facing the loss of their Senate majority, had hoped governor’s races would be a bright spot on an otherwise bleak night. Instead, the contests for statehouses across the U.S. proved equally frustrating with losses in several Democratic-learning states.
In a significant upset in Maryland, Republican businessman Larry Hogan beat the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, Anthony Brown. In Democratic-leaning Massachusetts, Republican Charlie Baker became the state’s first Republican governor since Mitt Romney left office in 2007, defeating the state’s attorney general, Martha Coakley, who was seeking to become the state’s first female governor.
In Illinois, Obama’s adopted home state, wealthy businessman Bruce Rauner, who poured $26 million of his fortune into the race, ousted Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, reclaiming the governor’s office for Republicans for the first time in more than a decade.
In Vermont, the state’s Democratically controlled legislature will pick its next governor, after the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, Gov. Peter Shumlin, led Republican Scott Milne but failed to top 50 per cent of the vote. State law requires governor’s races to go to the Legislature if no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote.
Democrats’ only significant victory came in Pennsylvania, where businessman Tom Wolf ousted Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Pennsylvania is a state long coveted by Republican presidential candidates, but a last-minute push there by Mitt Romney failed in 2012.
Republicans flipped the governor’s seat in Arkansas, where Asa Hutchison won an open contest. In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback thwarted Democrats who had hoped to make him an example of conservative overreach with his prescription of massive tax and spending cuts. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, turned back a challenge from Democrat Jason Carter, a state senator and the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.
Three governor’s races remained too close to call: Connecticut, Alaska and Colorado.
Governors were on the ballot in 36 states Tuesday, most of them overshadowed by the fierce fight for control of the Senate, where Republicans took the majority. But several close governors’ races were closely watched because of implications for the White House race in two years.
In a hotly contested election, Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott held on to his office in the country’s largest presidential battleground state despite a strong challenge from Democrat Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor who changed parties to run for his old job. The campaign was among the most expensive and nasty in the country, with both sides and their allies spending more than $100 million on television ads. Democrats had hoped Crist would give the party its first gubernatorial win in Florida in 20 years and put the state in friendly territory for the White House race.
Another governor who has figured in the 2016 discussion, John Kasich of Ohio, sailed to victory against Democrat Ed FitzGerald to win a second term largely on a record of economic growth and shrinking unemployment. Kasich’s state is also a major presidential battleground.
In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Nikki Haley handily beat Democratic challenger Vincent Sheheen to win a second term. The victory boosts the national image of the 42-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants, who has been mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate in 2016.
In Maine, Republican Gov. Paul LePage won a three-way race in which an independent candidate siphoned off votes from Democrat Mike Michaud.
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Associated Press writers Michael J. Mishak and Henry C. Jackson in Washington contributed to this report.
