Democratic Counties Outpoll GOP Strongholds in High Court Race

In the battle of the partisan stronghold counties, Dane and Milwaukee were the winners in Tuesday's Supreme Court election.

Democratic challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg outpolled incumbent Republican David Prosser in Dane and Milwaukee counties by a wider margin that he beat her by in suburban Milwaukee counties, according to Patch's analysis of the state Supreme Court results compiled by the Associated Press.

Prosser received 91,043 more votes than Kloppenburg in Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee and Racine counties combined. But Kloppenburg received 114,597 more votes than Prosser in Milwaukee and Dane counties combined. That's a net difference of about 23,000 votes in a race that was decided by a few hundred.

Adding the total votes in the four suburban Milwaukee counties plus Milwaukee and Dane counties results in Kloppenburg outpolling Prosser, 52 percent to 48 percent, with 332,205 votes compared to Prosser's 308,651.

Dane County had a hotly contested mayoral race and Milwaukee County had the county executive tilt, while there were few major races in the suburban Milwaukee counties to help drive higher turnout.

These key counties have been critical in statewide and national elections, as reported last November by the Journal Sentinel's Craig Gilbert. Tuesday's sharply divided Supreme Court vote shows Wisconsin likely will continue to be up for grabs in the 2012 presidential race.

Statewide, Prosser received 70 percent or more of the vote in Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties, while Kloppenburg reached that figure in Dane and Ashland counties.

Source: Associated Press