Survivors

Republican Senator Alberta Darling's hard-fought victory ensured that the GOP will control the Senate.

I'll be honest. I didn't have a good feeling about the Wisconsin recall elections yesterday. Considering all of the pro-union, anti-Walker cash coming in from outside groups, I expected the Democrats to eke out the needed victories to take back the Senate. Talk about a pleasant surprise! From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Democrats won two state Senate seats in Tuesday's historic recall elections, but failed to capture a third seat that would have given them control of the chamber.

By keeping a majority in the Senate, Republicans retained their monopoly on state government because they also hold the Assembly and governor's office. Tuesday's elections narrowed their majority - at least for now - from 19-14 to a razor-thin 17-16.

Republicans may be able to gain back some of the losses next week, when two Democrats face recall elections.

Democrats had hoped to block the Republican agenda by taking control of the Senate in the recall elections, but the GOP should be able to continue to advance its agenda.

And this, from The Washington Times:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A stand by Wisconsin Republicans against a massive effort to oust them from power could reverberate across the country as the battle over union rights and the conservative revolution heads toward the 2012 presidential race.

Democrats succeeded in taking two Wisconsin state Senate seats away from Republican incumbents on Tuesday but fell one short of what they needed to seize majority control of the chamber.

Republicans saw it as a big win for Gov. Scott Walker and a confirmation of his conservative agenda, the hallmark of which was a polarizing proposal taking away most collective bargaining rights from public workers.