Update: The final tally was nearly two to one for Rodriguez (1,512) over Kujawa (864). Gehl was third with 535 votes.
I must admit, the margin surprised me.
Jessie Rodriguez, a school choice advocate from Franklin, easily won the Republican primary for the 21st Assembly District seat vacated by Mark Honadel. She will now face Democrat Elizabeth Coppola in the general election on Nov. 19.
This one wasn’t even close. While I don’t have final, district-wide results yet, Rodriguez won in South Milwaukee, despite Mayor Tom Zepecki’s very public endorsement (in literature and on a robocall) of Kujawa. She tallied 516 votes to Kujawa’s 492, with Oak Creek Alderman Ken Gehl finishing third, Larry Gamble fourth and Jason “Red” Arnold fifth.
The margin was much bigger in Oak Creek, which has most of its results listed on its Facebook page.
Of course, Rodriguez doesn’t live in Oak Creek or South Milwaukee. She is from Franklin, where she tallied 57 votes in the small chunk of that city in the 21st District. Kujawa and Gamble each had 22 votes in Franklin.
Next up: the general election, where Coppola is running on a platform of bipartisanship and investment in public schools, among other issues.
Who gets your vote? Check out my new poll!
(And I’ll post final results as soon as I get them.)
South Milwaukee Blog 
Not surprised one bit. Rodriguez had the backing of the Republican establishment, and the Scott Jensen-led Americans Federation for Children spent over $30,000 to help get Rodriguez elected.
How much did the WI AFL – CIO give Coppola??? And how much did the Democratic Party of WI give Coppola???
Buying elections? Never! Not in America! /tongue firmly in cheek
Wow $30,000 spent and she only won by 24 votes.
24 votes in South Milwaukee. She won two or three to one in Oak Creek.
We’ll see how an election is bought when the amount the AFL-CIO, that has already endorsed Coppola, spends is revealed.
Neither one of them amount to much for me. They certainly won’t be in the best interest of our teachers, children, and community members. Any political party who is funded by big backers lack integrity in my book.
That would be both Democrats and republicans.
Elizabeth Coppola Used Alverno College Address to Sign Walker Recall Petition
By Kyle Maichle, Editor of Wisconsin Election Watch
MILWAUKEE – Democrat Assembly candidate Elizabeth Coppola (D-South Milwaukee, 21st District) signed a recall petition against Governor Scott Walker in 2011 using the general business address of a college.
An Wisconsin Election Watch Investigation found that Ms. Coppola used 3400 S 43rd Street, in Milwaukee as the address to sign the Walker recall petition provided by Verify the Recall. The address used is the general mailing address for Alverno College which is located on the South Side of Milwaukee. 3400 S 43rd Street is not located in the 21st Assembly District, where she is running for the vacant Assembly seat in a special election scheduled for November 19th against Republican nominee Jessie Rodriguez (R-Franklin). The address Ms. Coppola used in signing the recall petition is located in the 7th Assembly District which is represented by first-term Democrat Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee). The 7th District contains portions of the South Side of Milwaukee, Greenfield, West Milwaukee, and West Allis.
The recall petition was signed by Ms. Coppola on December 29, 2011. The 21st Assembly District is located in Milwaukee County and includes the Cities of Oak Creek, Franklin, and South Milwaukee.
What integrity Ms. Coppola has. First she can’t even use her own address to sign the ridiculous recall petition and now she moves into SM weeks before announcing she’s a candidate to represent us. Does she know where she wants to live?
Ms. Coppola also has problems managing a budget:
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/229966571.html
Everyone’s struggling through this lousy economy but, if she can’t handle her own finances, what do you think she’d do with our tax dollars?