Tag Archives: Larson

November 2, 2010 · 10:10 pm

Updated: Big Victories for Larson, Honadel

Democrat Chris Larson will replace Jeff Plale as state senator in the 7th District. And Republican Mark Honadel is returning to the Assembly.

The Journal Sentinel has declared Larson the winner over Republican Jess Ripp. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Larson had 56 percent of the vote to Ripp’s 44 percent — a bit smaller margin than he rode to victory over Plale in the September primary.

Here is the Journal Sentinel story.

Also, Honadel was rolling to victory in his race to represent his hometown in the 21st Assembly District. With 96 percent reporting, Honadel was leading Democrat Tom Michalski, an Oak Creek alderman, 63 percent to 38 percent.

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October 25, 2010 · 9:13 pm

Larson or Ripp? Endorsements Roll in in State Senate Race

The teachers like Chris Larson. Police officers like Jess Ripp.

Both candidates in the 7th Senate District race — Larson, the Democrat, and Ripp, the Republican — are landing their share of endorsements.

Most recently, it was the Wisconsin Education Association Council for Larson and the Milwaukee Police Association for Ripp.

Larson has also landed endorsements from a variety of unions, as well as a couple of supervisor colleagues, two Milwaukee aldermen and Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton. Ripp, meanwhile, has the backing of state Rep. Mark Honadel (R-South Milwaukee) and Milwaukee County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, as well as the mayors of Oak Creek and South Milwaukee.

See a complete listing of all endorsements for Ripp and Larson on their campaign websites.

Don’t forget to vote on Nov. 2. All 4th District residents cast their ballots at Rawson Elementary School. Learn more on the city’s election information page.

Who do you plan on voting for? Vote in the poll on the right side of this page.

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October 9, 2010 · 8:16 pm

South Milwaukee Mayor Zepecki Endorses Republican Ripp

South Milwaukee Mayor Tom Zepecki has endorsed Jess Ripp, the Republican candidate vying to replace Jeff Plale in the state Senate’s 7th District.

You can read the release here. From it:

“With his background in small business and law, Jess is the perfect candidate to represent this district,” Zepecki said. “Our citizens have real concerns about rising government spending, tax increases, and vanishing jobs. Jess has the same concerns and understands what it will take to repair our economy and keep jobs in Wisconsin.”

For Ripp, an attorney and relative unknown politically, this endorsement is a nice win.

For Larson, a Milwaukee County supervisor, this will only further hurt his chances in South Milwaukee … although his prospects here seemed pretty bleak anyway. Keep in mind that voters backed Plale nearly two to one in South Milwaukee in the September primary, even as Larson rolled to victory elsewhere, winning 60 percent to 40 percent overall. This endorsement certainly won’t help turn those numbers around.

Still, a local endorsement in this race surprises me some because neither candidate, to my knowledge, has campaigned much in South Milwaukee.

I know I’ve never met either one of them, and I hope that changes. I want to feel confident that both candidates will stand up for our city in Madison come January … and alleviate the real concerns locally that South Milwaukee will be a forgotten part of the 7th District after the election.

Here is Ripp’s campaign website. Here is Larson’s.

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September 15, 2010 · 8:55 pm

Perspective on the Larson Victory

So, what happened?

That’s on a lot of people’s minds following Chris Larson’s surprisingly big victory state Sen. Jeff Plale Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a good follow-up story on the race online today, with interviews from both candidates. From the story:

A crossover of Democrats voting in the GOP primary for governor set state Sen. Jeff Plale up for a devastating 61% to 39% primary loss to Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson, both candidates agree.

“There was a huge turnout in the Republican primary and that coupled with the Democratic version of the tea party, I don’t know if it’s any more complicated than that,” Plale said of his loss. “The folks who have traditionally supported me through thick and thin were faced yesterday with a very difficult decision.”

Here is some additional perspective from various blogs and other media outlets:

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September 14, 2010 · 11:27 pm

Big South Milwaukee Turnout and Other Interesting Local Polling Data

Update: See the full local results here.

South Milwaukeeans turned out in huge numbers to vote in Tuesday’s primary.

Turnout was 35.3 percent, as 4,664 of the city’s 13,196 registered voters came out to the polls, according to totals from the South Milwaukee city clerk’s office.

That is a pretty amazing number for a primary election, and it’s clearly a reflection of the bitterly contested 7th Senate District race between incumbent Jeff Plale and challenger Chris Larson, among others.

Plale easily beat Larson in the city (see post below).

So, how did South Milwaukeeans vote in the other races?

  • For starters, 1,740 people voted in the Republican primary on Tuesday, compared with 1,443 in the Democratic primary. That means 1,740 people did not vote in the Plale-Larson race … voters that would have probably leaned toward the more centrist Plale and led to an even wider margin in South Milwaukee for him.
  • As he did in other areas in southeastern Wisconsin, Scott Walker scored a big victory over Mark Neumann in South Milwaukee, 75.2 to 23.4 percent (1,874 votes to 585).
  • Republican Rebecca Kleefisch and Democrat Tom Nelson, candidates for lieutenant governor, each scored big victories in South Milwaukee, easily tallying more than twice as many votes as their next competitors.
  • The race for Milwaukee County sheriff was much closer here than in the rest of the county, as incumbent David Clarke tallied 931 votes to Chris Moews’ 886 in the Democratic primary.
  • U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore easily beat Paul Morel in South Milwaukee but by a smaller margin (66.1 to 33.8 percent) than the overall spread of 84 to 16 percent as of 11:15 p.m.

I’ll post more details on the election as I get them. Check out voting totals on the Journal Sentinel website.

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September 14, 2010 · 11:20 pm

Surprising Margin: Larson Cruises Past Plale

Update: Here is the Journal Sentinel story.

South Milwaukee will have new representation in the state Senate.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson rolled past incumbent Jeff Plale, a 4th District resident, in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Larson had 7,607 votes (60 percent) to Plale’s 5,033 (40 percent).

As expected, Plale did well in South Milwaukee, topping Larson 1,157 to 658 — a huge margin that shows just how wide the gap was in the rest of the 7th Senate District.

Larson will face Republican Jess Ripp in November and be a heavy favorite.

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September 10, 2010 · 10:00 pm

Journal Sentinel Endorses Plale

Update: The Journal Sentinel also has a nicely done summary of the race here.

State Sen. Jeff Plale’s tough re-election campaign got a nice lift with an endorsement from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

From the article:

On the whole, Plale has earned another term for his independence and commitment to common-sense solutions.

Click here to read the full endorsement.

Plate faces Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.

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August 29, 2010 · 11:17 pm

Plale-Larson Debate on Thursday

State. Sen. Jeff Plale, a 4th District resident, is facing a strong challenge from Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary.

Learn more about both candidates on Thursday, Sept. 2, at a debate presented by the Bay View Neighborhood Association. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Humboldt Park Pavilion, 3000 S. Howell Ave.

Learn more in the Bay View Compass.

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