Yesterday Racine GOP State Senator Van Wanggaard announced he will not file a lawsuit challenging the results of the recall election last month. Wanggaard lost by 800 votes to John Lehman who ran against Wanggaard and other Republicans who he said put “the target on the backs of teachers and public employees.”
This officially tips the scales in favor of Democrats who opposed Walker’s attack on collective bargaining rights last year. They now have a 17-16 edge in the senate.
Lehman’s reaction:
"I'm just happy that we're not putting the citizens through that," he said.He added that now the senate could focus on creating jobs in a state that has lost more than 23,000 jobs under Walker:
“I’m very hopeful that Sen. [Mark] Miller and Sen. [Scott] Fitzgerald can get together with the leadership over in the Assembly and that we can move forward on some of these items that have to do with jobs development immediately, rather than waiting until January,” Lehman said.As the AP reports:
Lehman said he hadn't heard of plans to try to reconvene the Legislature before the end of the year in an attempt to move on measures while the Democrats hold the Senate majority.It may be a small victory. But for workers, it’s a step closer to reversing Walker’s union-busting policies and rescuing Wisconsin’s middle class.
But Democratic Sen. Mark Miller, who will be the new Senate majority leader once Lehman is sworn into office within the next 10 days, suggested he would push for a special session to consider jobs legislation.
-- Union Thug
