MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters filed into polling stations Tuesday to decide whether to give Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett a rematch against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in next month’s rare recall election or whether to back one of Mr. Barrett’s fellow Democrats.
Mr. Barrett was one of four Democrats on Tuesday’s primary ballot looking to unseat Mr. Walker in the June 5 general election, which has become a nationally watched battle over union rights.
Since his successful push to effectively end collective bargaining rights for most state workers, Mr. Walker has emerged as a national conservative hero, shattering fundraising records in Wisconsin by collecting $25 million, mostly from out-of-state donors. Mr. Walker has embodied the Republican rise to power in 2010 and hopes to avoid becoming just the third governor to be recalled in U.S. history.
Carl Schramm, 77, a Whitefish Bay man who works part time for a plumbing and heating contractor, said he voted for Mr. Walker.
“It should never have come to this crap,” he said of the recall election. “It’s stupid. It costs a lot of money. He was duly elected.”
Polls heading into the primary consistently have shown Mr. Barrett ahead of the other Democrats, including one last week that showed him 17 points up over his nearest rival, Kathleen Falk. Mr. Barrett’s emergence as the front-runner was aided by his strong name recognition across the state, having just run against Mr. Walker for governor in 2010. Mr. Walker beat Mr. Barrett by about 125,000 votes, or roughly 5 percentage points.
Amy Westrup, a 41-year-old marketing consultant from Whitefish Bay, said she voted for Mr. Barrett, as she did the first time he ran against Mr. Walker. The chance to overturn that result is “the ultimate mulligan, the do-over” for the state, she said.
Other Democrats on the ballot are Secretary of State Doug La Follette and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout. They ran low-profile campaigns that failed to gain traction with voters. Gladys Huber is a Republican running as a Democrat.
Mr. Walker faces token opposition in the GOP primary from Arthur Kohl-Riggs, a Walker opponent running as a Republican.
Mrs. Falk snared key endorsements in the recall race from unions, including the AFL-CIO and the statewide teachers union. She promised to veto any budget that doesn’t restore the collective bargaining rights Mr. Walker took away, while Mr. Barrett has refused to make such a promise.
Despite their differences, the Democratic primary was mostly devoid of internal attacks. The candidates instead stayed largely focused on Mr. Walker and the policies he has enacted over 16 months in office.
While the union fight spurred the recall, the campaign has been much broader and focused largely on Wisconsin’s economy. Though the state’s unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 2008, Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state between March 2011 and March 2012. Since Mr. Walker took office, only 5,900 private-sector jobs have been created.
Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and three Republican state senators also face recall elections. There is an election in a fourth Senate district where the Republican incumbent targeted for recall resigned rather than run to keep her seat.
Turnout in the primary was projected to be between 30 percent and 35 percent of eligible voters, which would be the highest for a primary in a governor’s race since 38.9 percent in 1952.
Associated Press writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
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