Scott Walker Concedes Wisconsin Governor's Race: Evers Wins

WISCONSIN – Fueled by a resurgent Democratic base, Tony Evers has defeated Gov. Scott Walker, denying the Republican incumbent a third term in office. The Associated Press called the race for Evers just after 1:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Walker officially conceded the race, handing the victory to Evers.

"Thanks to Tony Evers for his gracious comments on our call today. I offered the full support of my staff and our cabinet as he begins the transition process," Walker said in a statement. "Finally, thank you to the voters of the great State of Wisconsin. It has been my honor to serve as your Governor for nearly eight years. We’ve come a long way together and it is my sincere hope that the progress we’ve made during our time in office will continue and that we can keep Wisconsin working for generations to come."

There had been concern that the Wisconsin Governor's race would be a long, drawn-out affair after Walker's campaign signaled early Wednesday that they might consider a recount, and scrutinize Milwaukee County absentee ballots.

But Walker's campaign said that a statement made by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch regarding a recount actually came before the revelation of nearly 50,000 uncounted Milwaukee County absentee ballots early Wednesday.

In that statement, Kleefish said: "We need to prepare ourselves for a long, drawn-out recount that the other side will surely seek. And so tonight I am telling you that we may need your support to help in that effort – resources and volunteers as we never have before."

Wisconsin Governor's Race:
Tony Evers D 1,324,648 50%
Scott Walker R 1,293,799 48%

100% Reporting 3,675 of 3,676 Precincts

At the time, Wisconsin's race for governor between Evers and Walker appeared to be in a deadlock, until things took a dramatic and unexpected turn several hours after polls closed Tuesday. Early Wednesday morning, with more than 2.5 million votes tallied and 98 percent of all voting districts reporting, Evers led Walker by only 122 votes. Then, news came that Milwaukee County, a Democratic stronghold in the state, had yet to process nearly 50,000 absentee ballots.

And of those Milwaukee County absentee ballots, Evers took 38,674 and Walker 7,181. The result sent shockwaves through a community of Wisconsin voters who strained to stay awake in the early morning hours to find out who won.

When it became apparent that Milwaukee's late-breaking ballots were enough to put Evers over the top, the Walker campaign said it was clear that the election had been lost.

"After inquiring further about the additional ballots in Milwaukee, Friends of Scott Walker determined that any change in the result would not be significant enough to determine the outcome of the election, despite its close margin and questions about how the city of Milwaukee executed its election night operations," his campaign said.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's political path has seemingly never been easy.

He survived mass protests that consumed the state capitol building after proposing and passing Act 10, which limited the ability of public workers of the ability to collectively bargain drew mass protests and demonstrations.

The next year, Walker survived his own recall election by defeating Democratic Opponent Tom Barrett in a rematch of the 2010 election.

Walker put forward a proposal to bring Voter ID to Wisconsin in January 2011. After five years, Voter ID survived many legal challenges before becoming law.

In January 2015, Walker set up a presidential campaign called "Our American Revival." Facing eroding political support and dwindling expenses, Walker suspended his campaign by September, and threw his support behind presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

He survived two John Doe investigations, both of which went on for years as prosecutors investigated Walker's recall campaign financing and at-work campaign activity by Walker staff members when he was Milwaukee County Executive.

Tuesday's election proved to be his toughest challenge yet - and the one he wouldn't win.

Article Images by Scott Anderson/Patch.com