Who is this Steve Doyle? If the Milwaukee Journal is more accurate than a Waukesha County clerk, then Democrat Steve Doyle is the brand new representative from Wisconsin's 94th House District.
With 94% of the vote counted, Mr Doyle is declared the winner at 54% to 46% Just over 15,000 votes have been counted so far. About 24,000 votes overall were cast in the regular 2010 election, with Huebsch winning about 14,000 to 9,800. So this is quite the flip in that district. It also strikes me a pretty good turnout for this sort of special election.
Mr Doyle won the seat left open by Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch, when he resigned in order to join Scott Walker's administration. Winning this seat does little to change the GOP's overwhelming advantage in the state assembly. But it is a symbolic victory to grab this seat. It seems fairly certain that the GOP did not expect to lose it. (See the link above and note the blowouts in the other two races tonight.)
Perhaps fifty or more Kossacks can take special satisfaction from this election. This earlier diary put the arm on Kossacks, who stepped up and dropped some alms. In the 24 hours after the diary was published, the donor count went from 103 to 155 on Steve Doyle's ActBlue page. In the same 24 hours, his donation total swelled by over $1,100. Over a 72 hour period these numbers were roughly +75 donors and +$2,500 respectively.
I do not know exactly how many of these people were Kossacks, but certainly the majority were. A few thousand dollars is a major donation to these statehouse races. It's just another example how many small donations can make a difference when focused on a well-selected race.
So thanks to all of you from around the USA, and perhaps even from ports elsewhere. You've done a little bit to help us Wisconsin progressives push back against Scott Walker and the Tea Party wrecking team.
"Congratulations" to Steve Doyle. "Solidarity" to the world's progressives.
Updated by Quicklund at Tue May 03, 2011 at 08:27 PM PDT
This seat was held by the GOP for the last 16 years. (Hat tip to scribeboy)
Updated by Quicklund at Tue May 03, 2011 at 09:45 PM PDT
Diary re-titled in honor of LaCrosse's favorite beverage.