Author: Randy Slovacek

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Wisconsin recall wrap-up

So the long and short of it is: after out spending challenger Tom Barrett on a scale of 8 to 1, Gov. Scott Walker remains the governor in Wisconsin.  With 99% of the vote in, Walker beat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) by seven percentage points, 53%-46%, which was almost identical to the margin in their 2010 contest.

What apparently helped Walker – besides 75% of his campaign money coming from out of state – was 60% in exit polls said that recalls are legitimate only for official misconduct, which they didn’t feel was the case here.

However, a couple of bright spots for Democrats from the evening:

1. The Obama White House and Chicago campaign headquarters can take comfort that the exit poll shows Obama beating Romney by seven points, 51%-44%, and it even shows him slightly ahead of Romney on improving the economy, 42%-38%.

2. Wisconsin Democrats appeared to have assumed control of the state Senate with results posted early Wednesday showing former Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) defeating incumbent Van Wanggaard in a tight race.

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Two “JC Penney” gay dads on local Texas news

The two gay dads – I hate that I feel I need to clarify that, but it seems necessary for those not following this story – Cooper Smith and Todd Koch, who currently are featured in a JC Penney ad for Father’s Day, appeared on local Texas news to discuss the attention they’ve received plus the attacks by the anti-gay One Million Moms.

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Support for marriage equality grows in Minnesota

Public Policy Polling reveals quite a shift in the past four months with regards to Minnesota voters’ stance on same-sex marriage.

Here are three of the proposed questions asked of 973 Minnesota voters from May 31 to June 3. The surveys have a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

Q1 Should the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?

Yes: 43%

No: 49%

Not sure: 7%

Q2 Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal?

Legal: 47%

Illegal: 42%

Not sure: 11%

Q3 Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?

Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry: 43%

Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry: 32%

There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship: 21%

Not sure: 4%

Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling says, “The pro-equality side is now winning on gay marriage ballot initiatives in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington. The landscape has changed significantly since Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage.”
(source)

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Ninth Circuit refuses to hear Prop 8 appeal

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that it won’t rehear a case in which Proposition 8 had been ruled unconstitutional, setting up a possible fight before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After a three-judge panel in February agreed with Judge Vaughn Walker’s 2010 decision in Perry v. Brown that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and the due process clause, proponents of the law sought an “en banc review.” Such a review would have required judicial evaluation by the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and could have included 11 appellate judges, but a majority of justices voted to deny the rehearing.

Now Prop. 8 backers have 90 days to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, setting the stage for a national case on marriage equality. If they don’t decide to appeal, then same-sex couples would again begin marrying.

The nation’s most populous state narrowly passed Prop. 8 in 2008 and banned same-sex marriage, which had already been legal but then became outlawed. A federal challenge to the ban, led by American Foundation for Equal Rights and attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, has been very successful, with wins in federal district court and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read more at The Advocate

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Ontario passes anti-bullying bill

 Ontario’s legislature has passed a landmark anti-bullying bill opposed by Catholics and conservatives by a vote of 65-36, the CBC reports:

Ontario’s anti-bullying bill, also known as Bill 13 or the Accepting Schools Act, passed through the legislature just before noon today by a margin of 65-36. Only the Progressive Conservatives voted against the legislation.

Catholic educators and church leaders oppose the bill because it requires schools to allow students to call anti-homophobia clubs gay-straight alliances if they wish.

[Ontario Premier]McGuinty (pictured) said the issue of protecting kids from bullying transcends all faiths and partisan politics. He added Catholics would understand the true significance of the bill is to build a stronger, more cohesive society.

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Wisconsin: Governor recall election shenanigans

Voters across Wisconsin are relaying stories via Twitter, Facebook and online message boards about anonymous “robocalls” from allies of Scott Walker, telling them–incorrectly–that if they signed petitions to recall Governor Walker, their vote in today’s crucial election has been recorded.

An NBC reporter tweeted that a family friend was one recipient of the call:

Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and the Democratic nominee to unseat Governor Scott Walker, told MSNBC host Ed Schultz last night that his campaign began receiving complaints yesterday that voters had been contacted with the misinformation. This morning, Salon reported on the robocalls too, and included comments from Carol Gibbons, a Wisconsin resident who got the call herself. And a local CBS affiliate is even reporting that the caller sounds eerily similar to Tom Barrett, suggesting the group behind the call may have hired a Barrett impersonator.

So far no recording of the call has surfaced, but the reports from voters was enough to prompt the Barrett campaign to make calls of its own, warning voters not to listen to the first call. For its part, the Walker campaign denied any involvement in or knowledge of the robocall or who was behind it.

Election day antics were a near certainty in Wisconsin. In the last week, reports of other campaign antics surfaced, including an attempt by Walker supporters to disable the Barrett campaign’s phone lines by flooding their call centers with spam phone calls.
(source)