• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Democrats hold Wis. Senate, seize lead in Assembly

MILWAUKEE (AP) Democrats held onto their majority in the state Senate and appeared on their way to taking back control of the state Assembly after Tuesday's elections.

The stakes were high: Gov. Jim Doyle is a Democrat, and if the party can gain control of both legislative chambers, it will be able to dominate state politics.

Unofficial results early Wednesday morning showed Democrats held 18 Senate seats compared with Republicans' 13. Two races were still undecided. Democrats went into Election Day with a 17-14 edge in that chamber.

With 117 of 131 precincts reporting, Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, led Democratic challenger Tara Johnson, also of La Crosse, with 54.3 percent of the vote.

In Milwaukee's northern suburbs, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, led Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, D-Milwaukee, with 51.5 percent of the vote with 79 of 84 precincts reporting. The results of that race were delayed because the city of Milwaukee decided not to count absentee ballots until later in the day Wednesday.

On the Assembly side, Republicans held a 51-47 advantage going into the elections. But Democratic challengers ousted GOP incumbents Frank Lasee of Bellevue, Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and J.A. "Doc" Hines of Oxford to pick up three additional seats. Democrat Mark Radcliffe of Black River Falls defeated Republican Dan Hellman of Onalaska for a seat left vacant after Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls, retired from the Legislature earlier this year.

Those developments gave the Democrats four additional seats. No Democratic incumbent had lost as of early Wednesday, giving the party a 48-42 edge.

The question of control was still in doubt, however. Eight races were still undecided by early Wednesday, giving Republicans a chance to come out ahead in the end.

Republicans have controlled the Assembly since 1994. But a wave of anti-Republican sentiment in 2006's elections and Rep. Jeff Wood's decision earlier this year to leave the party and run for re-election as an independent cut the GOP's advantage to just four seats going into Tuesday.

Democrats worked to turn the economic meltdown to their advantage, asserting on the campaign trail they were better equipped to lead the state out of the crisis. Republicans, meanwhile, countered that they didn't raise people's taxes and Democratic control of the Legislature would lead to bigger government taking more money out of people's pockets.

Many of the Assembly races were marked by ads from outside groups Wisconsin Institute for Leadership and Coalition for America's Families accusing Democratic candidates of supporting free health care for illegal aliens. The state Democratic Party blasted the ads as lies, but both group insisted they were accurate.