Wisconsin Democrats are preparing to select a candidate to run against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in just the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is likely to win the primary over Kathleen Falk, which will set up a rematch of the 2010 election.
PolicyMic will be live blogging the Indiana primary. Polls close at 9:00pm EST. Refresh this page for live updates.
UPDATES: 10:08 PM Democrats are already preparing for the rematch with Scott Walker on June 5. Dems are holding a "Unity Day" tomorrow with all the primary candidates to kick off the intense 4-week campaign. Scott Walker may be a polarizing figure, but he is very popular among conservatives. Walker raised $13 million in the most recent fundraising period, far more than the four Democrats combined. The RNC has also pledged to support walker with "anything he needs." This is the final update of the evening.
10:00 PM AP calls Wisconsin Democractic recall primary for Tom Barrett. Rematch set June 5 with Gov. Scott Walker.
9:48 PM Republican Scott Walker easily wins the Republican primary with 96%.
9:30 PM Now 3% reporting: Barrett with 11,514 votes (54.3%), Falk with 8,017 (37.8%).
9:23 PM Results coming in 1% reporting: Barrett 57.0%, Falk 35.5%.
9:14 PM Via Twitter: "@ sbauerAP : RPW release on Barrett: "tonight, many Democrats showed they're still not convinced he's the right candidate to challenge Governor Walker."
9:11 PM If the recall election were held today, Barrett would stand a chance of defeating Walker in a head-to-head fight. Barrett held a 1 percentage point lead over Walker in last week's Marquette University Law School poll.
9:08 PM Barrett will await the results of tonight's recall primary election for Governor with supporters at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Milwaukee.
9:02 PM Real-time numbers to start coming in at 9:00PM EST.
NPR reports that Falk, Barrett, and two other Democrats on the ballot have all vowed to unite behind the winner of Tuesday's primary.
"This is kind of like the opening act at a rock concert," says Mordecai Lee, a professor of governmental affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. "The electorate almost doesn't care who the Democratic nominee is. The electorate has taken sides. And people in Wisconsin, whether they're for Gov. Walker or against Gov. Walker, are very hyped up; they're very energized."
BACKGROUND: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will likely pick up the nomination to take on Scott Walker in the highly anticipated June 5 recall election, as labor groups' preferred candidate former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk trails far behind Barrett in the polls.
Labor leaders say they will rally behind Barrett should he win, though that outcome will come as a disappointment. Big labor groups had backed Falk in the primary, including Wisconsin AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; SEIU, and the United Food and Commercial Workers. Falk received more than $4 million in support from labor unions.
Barrett picked up a few union endorsements, including the Wisconsin Professional Police Union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, and the Iron Workers District Council of North Central States.
The outcome may serve to divide the labor and progressive movements nationally.
