Wisconsin governor survives recall

WASHINGTON - Scott Walker, governor of US state Wisconsin, was on Tuesday night projected to survive a recall election by TV networks, in a race that has national implication in this election year.

Walker was predicted by Fox News and NBC as winner of the race, after about 30 percent of votes were counted. Exit polls showed the race as a close one, and the Republican Walker was in dead heat with Democratic challenger Tom Barrett.

The turnout was reported to be high, but exit poll showed majority of voters are not supportive of the recall election, with six in 10 saying recall elections were only appropriate for official misconduct.

The recall effort started on February 11, 2011, when Walker released his plan to address a state budget shortfall that stripped public workers' collective bargaining rights.

The proposal led to protests that lasted weeks and drew crowds as large as 100,000 people. It motivated 14 Senate Democrats to flee the state for three weeks in a vain attempt to stop the bill. Walker signed it into law on March 11 virtually unchanged from how he proposed it.

The result triggered a petition drive for a recall vote, but it only officially started last November, because Wisconsin law requires that someone must be in office for at least a year before facing a recall. Organizers gathered more than 900,000 signatures, 360,000 more than needed to trigger the election. Barrett, the Milwaukee mayor, was chosen as Walker's opponent in a primary last month.

The race quickly gained national attention, and out-of-state money flew in. Walker was the clear winner in fundraising, spending some 29 million dollars, mostly raised out-of-state, while Democrats spent about 4 million, mostly raised in state. Outside groups have spent close to 30 million.

The race also attracted big-name politicians to campaign for their parties' candidate in the state, such as former president Bill Clinton and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, but neither President Barack Obama nor his GOP rival Mitt Romney showed up in recent weeks.

The race is only the third recall election of a governor in US history. Both incumbents lost in the other two races, including California governor Gray Davis in 2003 and North Dakota governor Lynn Frazier in 1921.