Just over one hour after polls closed in Wisconsin, reputable news sources such as AP, ABC, CNN and MSNBC were calling the race in Scott Walker's favor. Many Tom Barrett supporters declared it was too early to concede, especially because people were still waiting in line to vote and less than 30 percent of precincts had been reported; not including liberal-strongholds, Madison and Milwaukee.
Because the recall election was so heated and contested, many predicted the winner would not be known until late in the evening, or even until a potential recount was done. However, with 99.9 percent of ballots reported, Walker hedged out Barrett by 172,698 votes – a whopping 6.9 percent. Walker is now the first Governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election.
The early projection of Walker as the winner appeared to leave many Wisconsin voters wondering how news sources feel confident about calling a race early. There are a number of prediction methods, but one of the most reputable is exit polling. Exit polls asks people how they voted after leaving the polls to project a winner before votes are officially counted. However, this method is subject to error depending on where the exit polling is done, how the location was chosen and the honest cooperation of voters. Regardless of exit polling's potential problems, it seems to have worked effectively last night.
With Walker defending his title as Governor, politics in Wisconsin are still very polarized. This partisan division will surely strengthen presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's focus on the state. For the past five presidential elections, Wisconsin's electoral votes have gone to the democratic candidate. However, with the state's current Republican revival, it is becoming harder to discern which way the state will go in November. Interestingly enough, the same method of exit polling that correctly projected Walker as the early winner predicts the state will "go blue" for Obama again this fall.
Because the recall election was so heated and contested, many predicted the winner would not be known until late in the evening, or even until a potential recount was done. However, with 99.9 percent of ballots reported, Walker hedged out Barrett by 172,698 votes – a whopping 6.9 percent. Walker is now the first Governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election.
The early projection of Walker as the winner appeared to leave many Wisconsin voters wondering how news sources feel confident about calling a race early. There are a number of prediction methods, but one of the most reputable is exit polling. Exit polls asks people how they voted after leaving the polls to project a winner before votes are officially counted. However, this method is subject to error depending on where the exit polling is done, how the location was chosen and the honest cooperation of voters. Regardless of exit polling's potential problems, it seems to have worked effectively last night.
With Walker defending his title as Governor, politics in Wisconsin are still very polarized. This partisan division will surely strengthen presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's focus on the state. For the past five presidential elections, Wisconsin's electoral votes have gone to the democratic candidate. However, with the state's current Republican revival, it is becoming harder to discern which way the state will go in November. Interestingly enough, the same method of exit polling that correctly projected Walker as the early winner predicts the state will "go blue" for Obama again this fall.