power in the state, because of alberta darling s central role and the things that most aggravated recall supporters in wisconsin, defeating alberta darling has been seen as frankly a difficult prospect by democrats in these recalls but the one that they say would taste the sweetest to them if they could manage it. again, the recall election for incumbent republican state senator alberta darling too close to call at this hour. and with that race may tip the balance of the state senate in wisconsin. just moments ago i can tell you that in district 18 in wisconsin a democrat has been declared the winner there. the associated press calling the race for democratic challenger jessica king. that means state senator randy hopper has tonight been recalled from office. this is actually a rematch of the 2008 senate race in this district.
tell you, you got a ton of fans out here. it s all my relatives. [ applause ] you need to know that. great to be with you. thank you very much. i appreciate it. thanks, you guys. all right, i love you, too. one race still too close to call, the race for district eight, between alberta darling and sandy pache. this is the race which the control of the state senate pals right now. the republican ahead 53% to 47%. but waiting once again on the county whose bungled results in the last contested election over the state supreme court race earlier this year brought national attention and national consternation over the behavior of the republican activist. it is a republican strong hold
result is going to be in the alberta darling race. do you have any further information for us about what we have to expect there about when things will come in and what we should look for? well, we ve been told now by waukesha county that we won t know for at least an hour what the results are in waukesha county. which is simply ridiculous. they have the same voting machines everybody else does. and it s coming down to waukesha county yet again here in the state of wisconsin. so that s real frustrating. if you recall, in the supreme court race we had here in wisconsin a short time ago, jo ann cloppenburg was officially declared the winner on election night but in waukesha county the next day they found 14,000 more votes for prosser. that s what s going on in wisconsin. it s ridiculous it s come down to this. in terms of results so far in that race, i think we ve got one more board we can show you right now. i m told we ve got 79% of precincts now reporting. alberta darling leading
55% to 45%. great big win. good solid win. so the count is three for the republicans and one for the democrats. with two races to go. district 18, randy hopper and jessica king, two races left. the democrats are leading in both of those races. keep in mind, the magic number is three. for the democrats to take over the state senate that chamber, the magic number is three. they ve got one seat, and they lead in two other races. john nichols, taking a look at the alberta darling-sandy pasch race, that was one of the hopefuls, not one of the expecteds. the money that was poured in there, unprecedented. ed, that could yet, when we add it all up, turn out to be the most expensive legislative race in the entire history of
in the 8th district, 57% of the vote has been counted. and sandy pasch, the challenger, is leading state senator alberta darling by 58% to 42%. 18,000 votes for pasch. 13,000-plus for darling. john nichols of the nation magazine, that gap is widening. what does it mean? well, what it means is that the milwaukee and suburb votes are in. and i ve got to be honest with you. i m not going to lie to folks. as the night goes on you re going to see some of those out county suburban votes come in. that race will get closer. but i am quite amazed by the level of the lead that sandy pasch has opened up. this is going to be the race we watch for a while longer tonight. and of course in the 18th district, where there is another democratic hopeful, you have randy hopper, the state senator, the republican being challenged by jessica king.