MADISON, Wis. — The challenger for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has conceded defeat to a conservative incumbent justice in an election seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's divisive union rights bill.
Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg announced her decision Tuesday in Madison. Justice David Prosser, who has served for 12 years on the court, begins a new 10-year term in August.
Kloppenburg declared victory the day after the April 5 election after initial returns showed her leading by about 200 votes. But a county elections official said the next day that she failed to report 14,000 votes. Those votes gave Prosser a 7,316-vote lead.
Kloppenburg picked up 312 votes from the recount.
Walker's legislation would strip most public workers of nearly all collective bargaining rights.
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