Despite pro-abortion and liberal groups spending tens of millions of dollars to support pro-abortion candidates in a bid to take over the Wisconsin state Senate from pro-life lawmakers, pro-life legislators won last night.
In four of the six districts with competitive recall races, Republicans won four — as Senators Alberta Darling, Robert Cowles, Luther Olsen and Sheila Harsdorf were victorious in their hard-fought elections. Wisconsin voters clearly chose to support Republicans who took pro-life stances and has the support of Wisconsin Right to Life and political observers say the results, in a state that leans to the left political in presidential politics, could be an indicator of good things to come in 2012.
Susan Armacost, Wisconsin Right to Life Legislative/PAC Director, told LifeNews that the pro-life group is celebrating the victory.
“”Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion movement may have had more money and resources but we outmatched them in getting our supporters to the polls and that is what always matters the most in any election,” she said. “The stakes were extremely high. Had the State Senate fallen back into the hands of a pro-abortion majority, our life-saving legislative agenda would have come to a grinding halt. The real losers would have been the unborn.”
“We want to thank the hundreds of our dedicated volunteers who worked round the clock to help secure this victory. And we thank our wonderful members and supporters who cast their ballots for Wisconsin Right to Life PAC-supported candidates,” Armacost said.
The Wisconsin pro-life legislative leader said the night was not a total victory, however.
“We will greatly miss Senator Dan Kapanke and Senator Randy Hopper who have been such stalwart supporters of the right-to-life cause. We wish them the best,” she said.
Wisconsin Right to Life PAC is also involved in the upcoming recall elections on August 16, when voters will determine the fate of two pro-abortion Democratic incumbents who will face candidates who are strongly pro-life. WRTL is also endorsing Republican candidates Kim Simac in the 12th State Senate District and Jonathan Steitz in the 22nd State Senate District.
“Kim Simac and Jonathan Steitz strongly believe that unborn children should be protected and they will work for legislative measures to protect them,” continued Armacost.
“Kim Simac is challenging pro-abortion Jim Holperin. Holperin has a 0% right-to-life voting record in the State Senate. Jonathan Steitz is challenging pro-abortion Robert Wirch,” she told LifeNews. “Wirch is endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the state’s largest abortion provider. The election of Kim Simac and Jonathan Steitz would greatly contribute to building a culture of life in Wisconsin.”
John McCormack of the Weekly Standard says the victory is another in a line of wins for conservatives.
He writes: “Psychologically, this has to be a pretty big blow to Democrats and the unions. They were confident they’d defeat supreme court justice David Prosser on April 5 but came up 7,000 votes short. (That was their only real chance to kill the collective bargaining bill before it became law.) This time, they threw everything they had at six state senate swing districts — spending tens of millions and outspending Republicans two-to-one. Again, they expected to win but still came up short. That’s got to hurt.”
Republicans won four of six recall races, meaning the party still holds a narrow 17-16 majority in the Senate. Each of the districts that saw elections was one won by Obama in 2008.
