Politics & Government

Obama Carries Wisconsin, Weatherston Leading Lemke, Vos Leading Albrecht

Follow Patch all day Tuesday and we monitor what's happening on the election front in Caledonia.

Tuesday is Election Day in Caledonia and across the United States, and Patch has everything you need to know before you head to the polls in our Caledonia Election Central.

 

LIVE 2012 ELECTION RESULTS

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Presidential and U.S. Senate results only represent votes cast in Caledonia. Congressional and state legislative results are for entire district. If a race has  been called, the winner's name is boldfaced.

For even more results, visit our Wisconsin Election Results page.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

LAST UPDATE: 10:19 p.m.

     Race       Pct. reporting Democratic Candidates Results Republican Candidates Results President
59%

Obama-Biden

849,371
Romney-Ryan 779,386 U.S. Senate 59% Tammy Baldwin 807,391 Tommy Thompson 759,467 62nd State Assembly District
32% Melissa Lemke 4,409 Thomas Weatherston 7,666 63rd State Assembly District
56% Kelley Albrecht
7,268 Robin Vos
11,753 1st Congressional District
52%  Rob Zerban
69,832 Paul Ryan 108,706

Union Grove UPDATE 10:49 p.m.: Many of the attendees have left the party after they learned that Obama had won Wisconsin and Ohio.

UNION GROVE UPDATE 8:46 p.m.: The mood here at the Ironwood Chophouse, where Racine County Republicans held their party, have been told that Obama carried Wisconsin and the mood is very somber.

CALEDONIA UPDATE 8:25 P.M.:

Chief Election Inspector Pat Isaacson said 2378 of the village’s almost 2,700 registered voters have already cast a ballot at Franksville United Methodist Church, including early absentee voters.

Although the lines were very short and quiet, Isaacson said the turnout of voters was typical for a presidential election and was very pleased.

“This is great.” Isaacson said. “We had long lines when we opened, and then again after 5 p.m.”

Isaacson noted that the 794 early absentee ballots they received were the most they’ve ever had.

Christy LaPlante came to the polls with her two kids Maren and Garrett. LaPlante came at this time of night because her kids wanted to see what the voting process was like.

LaPlante wasn’t expecting big lines at the polls but said she was surprised by how quiet it was.

Kristine Schunann came to vote because she believes this is an important election. She voted for Romney, but considers herself a “strong independent,” rather than a Republican. She said she changed her mind about which candidate to support after watching the debates, but was not influenced by the advertising.

-By Mike Porcaro 

CALEDONIA UPDATE 6:08 P.M.: Nicole Scieszinski It was in and out for us. Very nice poll workers at St Louis Church!

By about 2:15 p.m. East Side Community Center had 2,132 voters.

RACINE UPDATE 6:03 p.m.: Rob Weber, city attorney for the city of Racine, said a Chicago lawyer who was acting as a poll observer for the Republicans was asked to leave a Racine polling location, Jefferson lighthouse school, this morning because he had a Romney sticker on his clipboard.

However, we spoke to the lawyer in question from Jefferson. He said he was trying to explain to the chief inspector that the area marked off for observers - typically with blue tape - was well past the max of 12 feet allowed by statute. He called it a bipartisan problem even though he's an attorney for the Romney/Ryan campaign. 

CALEDONIA UPDATE 2:21 p.m.: Tootie Blaesing, the polling inspector at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Caledonia, said they've had some absentee ballots had four of the seven candidates marked and some had six out of seven candidates marked. That ballot gets counted on the candidates that were filled out correctly, but the presidential race gets tossed out, Blaesing said. They've also had a lot of in-person ballots that were over votes, even after the residents were told not to vote for more than one candidate.

CALEDONIA UPDATE 12:54 P.M.: 

Bill Folk, chairman for the Racine County Republican Party, said St. Andrews Lutheran Church was the busiest he's ever seen.

"The line was out the door," Folk said. "I talked to the Obama polling observer and he said it’s been that busy since 7 a.m. The poll workers there are phenomenal and there were no issues with voters or the election observers that were there."

Here's what some other Caledonia voters had to say:

Don Hanson: No wait at 8:30 a.m. St Louis church was #670

Eddie Willing: 8:05 a.m. at 1123 at East Side Community Center.

Dave Wyatt: Voted at Prince of Peace at about 11:00. Was voter number 1111. That is about three times the number that I usually get at the same time. Everything is quiet and orderly and very steady.

RACINE UPDATE 12:15 P.M.

Folk said he was visiting as many polling locations as he could get to where Republican poll observers were working to be sure there weren't any issues. He is also making sure chief poll inspectors aren't having any issues with the observers.

At 11:30 a.m. when Folk visited Jefferson Lighthouse, he said there was a minor issue with poll workers not allowing an additional Republican to join the sole GOP observer present in a group of nine observers total.

"It has to be equal so we called Donna (Deuster) in the city clerk's office, and she said she'd come over right away to take care of it," he said. "Otherwise, it's been a busy but quiet morning. So far, so good."

At 12:15 p.m. Jane Witt, chairwoman for the Democratic Party of Racine County, said the lines at the Dr. John Bryant Center in Racine were horribly long and they had a number of newly trained poll workers. 

"We had a problem with the ward books not being split, but that got fixed immediately," Witt said.

UPDATED AT 8:15 A.M.

At the community center in Caldonia, 131 voters cast their ballots by 7:35 a.m. Tuesday, with dozens of residents standing in line still waiting.

Chief Elections Inspector Ed Ball said lines have been out to the street since the polls opened, but there haven't been any major hitches yet. He said he expects the 3,300 people registered at that polling location to show up to vote in the election, but said that isn't a surprise.

"It's like this every presidential year," Ball said. "Everyone comes out of the woodwork."

Voters said they didn't have any issues waiting in line as well.

Brian and Sandy Janczak said it took them about 20 minutes to vote, but the process went pretty smoothly overall. Brian said it would have been nice to have a larger parking lot at the polling location and his wife suggested a few more election workers.

"They maybe could have used a few more people," she said.

Meredith Pawlowski said it took her about 20 minutes to vote as well, but the process went pretty smoothly overall.

"We just moved here from Oak Creek and I would be able to just walk in, but it only took me about 20 minutes (today)," she said.

— Joe Petrie

______________________________

Tuesday is Election in Caledonia, and Patch has everything you need to know before you head to the polls in our Caledonia Election Central. We've also got you covered with statewide races. Our Wisconsin Election Results story will have results as soon as we get them.

If you need information on where to vote and who’s on the ballot you’ll find it here. And remember to check back throughout the day on Tuesday for updates from the polls and local results once the polls close at 8 p.m.

Election Info

  • Sample Ballot: To see a sample ballot, go to the state's My Vote Wisconsin website and enter your address.
  • Polling locations: Your specific polling location can be found on the My Vote Wisconsin site. Or you can visit the village's elections website for a list of all polling places in Caledonia.
  • Registering to vote: Register at your polling place on Election Day
  • Voter ID: Because of recent court rulings, Wisconsin's Voter ID law will not be enforced and you do not need an identification to vote. If you are registering to vote, you will need to bring a proof of residence. For more information on the Voter ID law, visit the state's election website.

On the Ballot

COUNTY:

STATE:

  • 63rd State Assembly District
  • 62nd State Assembly District

FEDERAL:

  • 5th Congressional District
  • U.S. Senate
  • President

See Caledonia Patch's complete election coverage


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