Final Vote Count Gives Kloppenburg the Edge

With the final precincts reporting all votes counted, incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser trailed by 200 votes, and his challenger, Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg has declared victory.

But no one else is yet calling her the new justice of the Supreme Court. With the margin that small, it is almost certain that Prosser will seek a recount.

Milwaukee philanthropist Chris Abele was the easy winner in the race for Milwaukee County executive over his opponent, Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greenfield).

When all precincts had reported, Abele had recorded 61 percent of the vote.

In Wauwatosa, Prosser outpolled Kloppenburg 9,704 to 7,680, and Abele received 7,758 votes to Stone's 9,465.

There were 17,549 votes cast in Tosa, or  52.41 percent of eligible voters. That is a figure usually reserved for a presidential election.

A large turnout had been expected, despite the fact that no Wauwatosa public offices were contested. Earlier in the day, City Clerk Carla Ledesma went out on a limb and predicted a 40 percent turnout for the vote.

Tuesday's returns far topped that, rivaling even some of the more hotly contested national elections in years past.