Gov. Jim's Doyle's re-election, despite a mediocre approval rating, registers within the state as a strong rebuke of Republican politics and policy on a local and national scale.
In the weeks leading up the midterm elections the public expressed dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and the war in Iraq. The election served as a major test of public support for the Bush administration.
This sentiment was echoed in Tuesday's election, as Wisconsinites voted against Republican Mark Green, a U.S. representative known for his close ties to Washington.
Doyle took Wisconsin with 53 percent of the vote. At the same time, former state Assembly Speaker John Gard fell to challenger Steve Kagen, taking the moderately Republican district with 51 percent of the vote.
While state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, conceded Doyle was a ""beatable"" incumbent, he attributed Green's defeat to public approval of congressional Washington politics as being at an all time low.
""I think the Republicans made a fundamental mistake by running a Washington, D.C. Congressman for governor,"" he said.
The national trend suggests a resurgence of the Democratic Party, and politics in Wisconsin reflected this strongly.
Democrats took control of the state senate and for the first time in 16 years, narrowing Republican control of the Assembly.
Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, a non-partisan reform group, attributed the Democrats' failure to gain control of the Assembly to Doyle's inability to bring his party on his coattails.
""Doyle's popularity [did not] transfer to [Assembly] Democrats,"" he said.
Heck said while the national trend toward Democrats seems like a recent development, voters have been shifting their alliances for a while. Voters have been hungry for ""a wave for change ... to get rid of the party in power and put somebody else in charge,"" he said.
With the newly Democratic dominance in the state Senate, the party will be able to pass more Democratic legislation.
In his last term, Doyle vetoed 54 bills from the Republican dominated Legislature, outnumbering total vetoes in the previous 12 years combined.
Black predicted the Assembly may also become more cooperative without Republican speaker John Gard's presence. The political environment may be more conducive to bi-partisanship and may also help Democrats push their agenda.
""[State Democrats] can work harder for quality education, protecting the environment and health care, as well as cleaning up the state environment,"" he said.
Black said the Republicans put gay marriage and the death penalty on the ballot to draw in voters backfired.
""If they were really concerned about the amendment it would have been on the ballot a year and a half ago in 2005,"" he said.
Black and Heck said the referendums may have sealed Green's fate. Voter turnout was high in Wisconsin this year, though negative races usually can turn away voters.
Heck credited the gay marriage and death penalty referendums to drawing in people who may not have voted otherwise.
