A stand by Wisconsin Republicans against a massive effort to oust them from power could reverberate across the country as the battle over union rights and the conservative revolution heads toward the 2012 presidential race.

Voters in three Wisconsin State Senate districts went to the polls Tuesday, and the results are more good news for progressives. In a 38-point victory, Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen fought off a recall attempt - while Republicans held primaries in two other districts. But the bigger story here was turnout (compared with the Democratic primaries last week), and it's clear we have a glaring "enthusiasm gap" that has galvanized Democratic voters. Meanwhile, Republicans are so concerned about what will happen on August 9th - when six GOP state senators are subject to recall - that they have gone full speed ahead to pass a hyper-partisan gerrymandered map, while they still control the legislature.

At long last, Republicans have filed recall petitions against Democratic state Senators. They made three filings in total, against Jim Holperin, Dave Hansen, and Robert Wirch. In two weeks, it's possible that Republicans will submit recall petitions against Democratic state Senator Julie Lassa as well.

There are some real alarm numbers for the GOP in these numbers, even if they now appear to point to a decidedly narrow re-election for Prosser. Start with the obvious points of alarm, which nonetheless deserve to be repeated. Prosser had a thirty-point lead over Kloppenburg after the primary, which was less than two months ago. Even if you make the presumption that Kloppenburg should get the lion's share of the other votes in the primary, Prosser still had a ten-point lead that dissipated in about seven weeks. This despite the fact it is a virtual certainty that Prosser and his advocates had the money edge over Kloppenburg and her allies.

Here s the full story on when Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, a Republican, previously worked in the Wisconsin Legislature. Nickolaus upended the tight state Supreme Court race Thursday when she announced she had failed to correctly tally thousands of votes in an unofficial report to the press. That swung the unofficial totals in the race from challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg to Justice David Prosser, who previously served as a top GOP lawmaker.

An Indiana prosecutor and Republican activist has resigned after emails show he suggested Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker stage a fake attack on himself to discredit unions protesting his budget repair bill.

Wisconsin Republicans, from Scott Walker on down, have repeatedly justified their move to strip collective bargaining rights for state employees by claiming that the state is broke. However, this has not stopped them from giving a state job and a 36% raise to the 26-year-old girlfriend of Wisconsin state Senator Randy Hopper.

Shadowy "issue ad" groups that do not disclose their funders as well as heavy hitter political action committees are rushing to the aid of embattled Wisconsin Senator Scott Walker, whose poll number are dropping like a rock. The list of outside big money attacking Wisconsin state workers and teachers read like a "who's who" of the Republican donor and special interest group apparatus.