answers to the surveys of voters after they were done voting in wisconsin today, we saw those and it, again, seemed like it was going to be a long night and those exit polls showing an incredibly close race. they showed that union households in particular, were out in force. union households voting in a higher proportion of the electorate may have been voting in 2010. and they're voting just as heavily as they did in that previous election for democrat tom barrett over scott walker. exit polls also showed that women were voting in favor of tom barrett by a significant margin. two indicators that made it seem like we would be in for a really long night and we had always planned to be on live tonight at midnight eastern but, frankly, the way we were talking about this nerng e thing in terms of planning our coverage we were not sure we would be able to tell at this late lour, right now, after midnight on the east coast, who had won this governor's race in wisconsin. that's how close this race was looking. possible all-nighter. maybe even ""the today show"" tomorrow morning couldn't help

we'll be back monday. thanks for being with >> tonight tensions running very high in wisconsin. >> you are not going to take my life away. >> the state is set for an explosive political show down. explosive and historic. a reelection that could remove the governor for the first time ever in wisconsin history republican governor scott walker. it all started 15 months ago when governor walker proposing controversial anti union collective bargaining law. >> collective bargaining rights should not be taken away. >> angry protestors storming the state capital ovenlt other side walker activists rallying for days onened. >> it shouldn't happen in wisconsin. >> the battle quickly went national. speaker boehner holding their feelings. they call his actions an assault on unions. speaker boehner confronted problems that have been neglected for years at the expense of jobs and economic growth. like something out of a movie 14 democratic state senators disappear fleeing the state to avoid voting in the anti union vote. business goes to a halt but they find a way to push the anti union bill

governor walker, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. >>> wisconsin's scott walker becomes the first to survive a this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to s

. in wisconsin. >> implications went national. the chair of the republican party says they will take the message across the country. the message means, he says, big labor bosses can no longer bully taxpayers of america. we know governor walker did have a conversation with mitt romney. we got a statement from the romney camp. i'll read it to you. governor walker has shown citizens and taxpayers can fight back and prevail against run away costs imposed by labor bosses. it's a different story over at the barrett camp. people are saying as long as votes are being counted they're not going to offer a concession. what we can conclude from that is that governor walker is probably not going to get a phone call from mayor barrett until they feel like enough votes have been counted. we've heard governor walker won't take the stage here until they feel enough of the counties are done getting their results in. bret? >> bret: okay z we'll bring you that speech live here on fox news channel when it happens. the lieutenant governor easily defeated professional firefighter michelle in the other big

giving up. there's no shame. there's no embarrassment in the way this has been played out in wisconsin. it is been a long, hard fight for the people of wisconsin, to try to change their government. and give credit to scott walker. he did what he had to do. by the rules, he went out and raised a hell of a lot of money with people with corporate interests and brought it to wisconsin and won a recall election. he's the only governor to survive a recall election in the history of the united states. the recall was successful in 1921 in north dakota. it was successful in 2003 in california. and it was unsuck sets are saysful here tonight in wisconsin. i'm joined by johnny kols, washington correspondent for "the nation" magazine and author of the book "uprising." and we have political editor for "progressive" magazine. this is one for the archives. ruth, your impressions? all the exit polling did not match up the final result. >> yeah. i mean, i agree with you. this is a tough night for us. we walked out of the studio after doing the show earlier and we saw the protest movement around the cap

, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. the numbers and what they mean, next. this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to save america began tonight. in wisconsin. >>

wisconsin. >> the battle quickly went national. speaker boehner holding their feelings. they call his actions an assault on unions. speaker boehner confronted problems that have been neglected for years at the expense of jobs and economic growth. like something out of a movie 14 democratic state senators disappear fleeing the state to avoid voting in the anti union vote. business goes to a halt but they find a way to push the anti union bill through anyway. the recall el linection once ag pits walker against tom barrett. they ran against each other in november 2010. governor walker is not the only one with a job on the line. clay fish also facing a recall. >> i am the first lieutenant governor in national history to face a recall. i will be the first in national history to be elected twice in my furs term. >>> she is up against the president of the professional firefighters. >> governor walker's policies. we need someone there not just with a rubber stamp but who will fight for the middle class citizens of our state. >> for the next hour we will go behind the scenes of the wiscons

, tensions running high in wisconsin. the stage set for an explosive political showdown. explosive and historic. in four days a recall election that could remove a governor for the first time ever in wisconsin history. republican governor scott walker. it all started 15 months ago whistling governor walker proprosing a controversial antiunion collective bargaining law. >> corbargaining rights shouldt be taken away. >> greta: angry protesters storming the state capitol. and on the other side prowalker activists rallying for days on end. >> the cool school district in my town this is disgusting. this shouldn't happen in wisconsin. >> greta: the wisconsin battle quickly went national. president obama and speaker boehner not sugar coating their feelings. president obama called governor walker's actions a "assault on unions" and speaker boehner praised the governor for confronting problems neglected for years at the expense of jobs and economic growth. then like something out of a movie 14 democratic state senators disappeared, fleeing the state to avoided voting in the antiunion vote. stat

nap does it for this edition of "360." we'll be pack here 10:00 p.m. with the latest from wisconsin. for now "piers morgan tonight" starts now. >>> good evening i'm wolf blitzer in for piers morgamorga. we begin with breaking news out of wisconsin right now where polls have just closed. the recall vote that could preview november's election. look at this. our exit polls show it's a 50/50 race as of this minute. these are exit polls, the polls we conducted throughout the day, throughout the state of wisconsin. these are preliminary exit poll results. 50% for scott walker. he's on the left of your screen. 50% for tom barrett, the democrat, the mayor of milwaukee. he's on the right. scott walker is the incumbent republican governor. this is a race to recall him, to remove him from office. based on the exit polls that we've been conducting throughout the day. right now the exit polls show it's 50% for walker, 50% for barrett. doesn't get much closer than this. obviously we are in no prediction to make a projection of the winner in this race. also by the way for the lieutenant governor r

this shouldn't happen in wisconsin. >> greta: the wisconsin battle quickly went national. president obama and speaker boehner not sugar coating their feelings. president obama called governor walker's actions a "assault on unions" and speaker boehner praised the governor for confronting problems neglected for years at the expense of jobs and economic growth. then like something out of a movie 14 democratic state senators disappeared, fleeing the state to avoided voting in the antiunion vote. state senate business grinds to a halt but they find a way to push the antiunion bill through anyway. the hotly anticipated recall election once again pits governor scott walker against milwaukee mayor tom barrett. they ran against each other in november 2010. governor walker is not the only one, though, with a job on the line. lieutenant governor rebecca clayfish also facing a recall on june 5. >> i am the first lieutenant governor in national history to face a recall. i will be the first lieutenant governor in national history to be elected twice in my first term. that you is that? >> up again

wisconsin, we tell our country and we tell people all across the globe, that voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. >> scott walker stays as governor of wisconsin. republican walker beat back a recall vote. that recall effort was brought by democrat tom barrett. barrett is the democratic mayor of milwaukee, wisconsin. he got 46% of the vote. barrett lost. walker got 53%. a 7 point spread. walker has two and a half years to go in his four the recall democratic strategic gem was precipitated by walker's aggressive meshs to -- measures to cut wisconsin's budget, notably the ones that stripped public employees, wisconsin state employees of their collective bargaining rights, most of them. walker's forced workers to pay more for healthcare and pension benefits. walkers move sparked protesters at the state capital. largely labor unions were able to collect almost 1 million sixty, thus forcing this week's election. anti-walker and prowalker groups spent some $75 million coming from outside wisconsin, half of it. question, why did walker win? and why did l

walker the republican governor of wisconsin will withstand a recall challenge from milwaukee mayor tom barrett. the republican winning in a hotly contested nationally watched recall election. the big issue at the beginning, governor walker's efforts to curtail the rights of public employees unions. in the middle of a gig budget crisis. tens of millions of dollars spent on the recall election. about 27% of the vote in, governor walker leading by 60% to 40%. our exit polls show the race to be a little closer than that. let's take a break to the magic wall to show why we're predicting why scott walker will keep his job as governor of wisconsin. number one, it's obvious. red is republican. you see a lot of red. let's break it down closer. dane county here, this is the this is the key county for democrats in the state, about 8% of the population. democrats say their turnout operation worked well there. but tom barrett the democrat getting 60% and scott walker getting 40% right there. tom barrett needs to be at about 70%. he needs to be up around 70% in this key county right there. let's com

"the ed show." we want to thank the great dane pub here in wisconsin. "the rachel maddow show" starts now. >> thank you, i know it's been a long and exhausting night. we're looking forward to having you back home. give everybody my best while you're there. >> i'll do that, thank you. >> thanks to you at home for staying was. for the next hour as our election night coverage continues live, when the wisconsin election night started quite a few hours ago now, we all thought it was going to be a long fighted this and we were prepared for it. i had chocolate for dinner. turnout in wisconsin was reported to be huge all day and that was expected to benefit the democrats. so even if the polling heading into today's voting put the republican governor scott walker ahead and consistently ahead, well, maybe there's big turnout means that democrats were evening it up. evening it up on election day with these big turnout numbers. when we saw the exit polls today, the answers to the surveys of voters after they were done voting in wisconsin today, we saw those and it, again, seemed like it was going

at 6:00 in oxford, right now, "your world," starts now. >>neil: from madison, wisconsin this is it. "do or die". the final hour of voters decide who to make the governor the third to go down to recall defeat. there is only been three in american history. it didn't do well not other two, scott walker hopes to make it the exception today. welcome, everyone, i am neil cavuto. both sides now are badgering each other and trying to taking advantage of a vote too close to call and a republican governor walker telling me he is confident he will win out. he is confident, he says, because the trend is his friend, the economy is picking up, the unemployment rate is coming down, and he says all because of the various measures that have led to this new recall election now. but governor walker reminded me he is fit, ready, and he will survive. governor walker earlier today. >> governor, pleasure to have you. how are you holding up? >> well. voice is short but everything is well. >>neil: polling is all over the map, and wide potential swings for error but it looks good so far. if you win, what do

. in wisconsin. >> implications went national. the chair of the republican party says they will take the message across the country. the message means, he says, big labor bosses can no longer bully taxpayers of america. we know governor walker did have a conversation with mitt romney. we got a statement from the romney camp. i'll read it to you. governor walker has shown citizens and taxpayers can fight back and prevail against run away costs imposed by labor bosses. it's a different story over at the barrett camp. people are saying as long as votes are being counted they're not going to offer a concession. what we can conclude from that is that governor walker is probably not going to get a phone call from mayor barrett until they feel like enough votes have been counted. we've heard governor walker won't take the stage here until they feel enough of the counties are done getting their results in. bret? >> bret: okay z we'll bring you that speech live here on fox news channel when it happens. the lieutenant governor easily defeated professional firefighter michelle in the other big

wisconsin. >>> good iefgs evening, live from wisconsin. nbc news declares walker winner in the recall election over milwaukee tom barrett and they declare rebecca kleefisch the winner. tom barrett, the mayor of milwaukee, says he will not concede. his campaign says there's ongoing voting in milwaukee, the barrett campaign was outspend 7.5-1. about two-thirds of governor scott walker's donations are from out of state compared to about one-fourth for tom barrett. this is not going to be an easy night for many broadcasters who are liberal. this is not going to be an easy night for this broadcaster, to say that i'm shocked and stunned is pretty much an understatement. but i also think that as a real warning to americans, that money is now infiltrated into our political system like we have never seen before. and the ruling by citizens united is now a real message to every american. it is going to take an insurmountable amount of effort on the ground for the progressive move. and the democrats to do what they need to do in 2012. and this is also a real message to local politics that this mo

wisconsin. walker's divide and conquer strategy worked, but so did his lie and buy strategy. walker misrepresented his own record and used at least $30 million in spending to his advantage. walker is so confident today, he's telling mitt romney how to campaign in the badger state. >> i think it will be a competitive wisconsin. the key for governor romney to be competitive enough to win is i think he's got to lay out a clear platform, something similar to what our friend paul ryan has done just down the way, and i think if he does something like that and he makes a compelling case to the people of wisconsin that he's willing to take those kind of risks that would get america back on track for our kids and our grandkids' kids, he can win. >> romney spoke with reporters on a conference call today. he promoted walker's record as a template for the rest of the country. >> the vote that we saw last night in wisconsin said that people in what many have considered a blue state, it hasn't voted for a republican for president since 1984, a blue state said, we've seen a conservative governor,

. >> you know, wisconsin the last few weeks? mitt romney. >> the governor of 47th snt state? job growth. >> clinton found another adjective to describe a romney presidency. >> his plan is to go back to the bush program, except on steroids. >> the romney republican play is austerity and more unemployment now. and blow the lid off later. >> no one better to deliver this message than bill clinton. >> you have to take the facts out there. >>> nbc news declares republican governor, scott walker, the projected winner over democratic milwaukee mayor, tom barrett, in the governor's recall election. governor walker will keep his governorship after the most expensive campaign in wisconsin's history and what a difference a supreme court decision made. the citizens united ruling allowed 6 allowed $63 million to be spent in a wisconsin statewide election, double what was spent in the 2010 election, that delivered the governorship to scott walker. here's how all the money breaks down. governor walker has spent $29 million. pro walker outside organizations have spent a total of $16 million, including

baier's wisconsin election special. stick around for bret and governor walker, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. the numbers and what they mean, next. this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years

. in wisconsin. >> implications went national. the chair of the republican party says they will take the message across the country. the message means, he says, big labor bosses can no longer bully taxpayers of america. we know governor walker did have a conversation with mitt romney. we got a statement from the romney camp. i'll read it to you. governor walker has shown citizens and taxpayers can fight back and prevail against run away costs imposed by labor bosses. it's a different story over at the barrett camp. people are saying as long as votes are being counted they're not going to offer a concession. what we can conclude from that is that governor walker is probably not going to get a phone call from mayor barrett until they feel like enough votes have been counted. we've heard governor walker won't take the stage here until they feel enough of the counties are done getting their results in. bret? >> bret: okay z we'll bring you that speech live here on fox news channel when it happens. the lieutenant governor easily defeated professional firefighter michelle in the other big

"the ed show" live from madison, wisconsin where it's ground zero for the middle class. for the first time since his surprise attack, scott walker will face the people. this is "the ed show." this is history. let's get to work. >> if you win, what do you think it mean sns. >> i think it's a victory for courage not only here in wisconsin but across the country. >> the polls are tighten. there are boots on the ground. >> i am going to win it. we are very, very positive. >> tonight tom barrett brings the fight for the middle class "the ed show." >>> scott walker is denying new allegations about state's john doe investigation. >>> republican state senator thinks scott walker reforms are working. he will defend his position here tonight. >>> despite getting out spent by outside money, democrats like the reverend jesse jackson say they will turn out the vote in wisconsin. >> if they can march in selma and montgomery, i can march right down the street. >> the civil rights leader joins me live in madison. >>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. the long road to the recall ele

his job as governor of wisconsin. number one, it's obvious. red is republican. you see a lot of red. dane county here, this is the key county for democrat, 8% of the population. democrats say their turnout operation worked well there. but tom barrett the democrat getting 60% and scott walker getting 40% right there. barrett needs to be up around 70% in this key county right there. let's come back to the map here a little bit. this is waukesha county. the key county for republicans in this state. 75%, scott walker got just over 70% last time. he's overperforming. as we go from county to county, come up here, brown county, where green bay is, walker getting 60% with 75% of the vote in. that's an improvement from two years ago. you can pick your key county across the state. everything we see so far. the republican incumbent, scott walker overperforming and barrett is underperforming. we'll break it down what it means for the state, for the governor in november. dana bash is joining us and also the former white house press secretary for george w. bush, ari fleischer and also, paul begal

. thanks for watching. it's been 16 months. let's get it on. polls close in an hour here in wisconsin. we've already seen a ground operation unlike anything in wisconsin political history. voting in the recall election between scott walker and tom barrett may rival the 2008 presidential election turnout. participation has been off the charts for early voting, for same day registration and of course, this massive get out to vote effort unlike anything we've seen in this part of the country. voters will be in line when the polls close in one hour. remember, you can still vote. you don't have to go home. you get in that line before the polls close, and you will be allowed to vote. election officials say that the turnout is somewhere between 60 and 65%. they expect around 2.8 million votes to be cast in this state today. turnout has been so heavy milwaukee county has had to call in for reenforcements at the poll. the turnout is so important because most voters already made up their minds according to the exit polls. 88% of voters decided which way they were going to vote before the month

this shouldn't happen in wisconsin. >> greta: the wisconsin battle quickly went national. president obama and speaker boehner not sugar coating their feelings. president obama called governor walker's actions a "assault on unions" and speaker boehner praised the governor for confronting problems neglected for years at the expense of jobs and economic growth. then like something out of a movie 14 democratic state senators disappeared, fleeing the state to avoided voting in the antiunion vote. state senate business grinds to a halt but they find a way to push the antiunion bill through anyway. the hotly anticipated recall election once again pits governor scott walker against milwaukee mayor tom barrett. they ran against each other in november 2010. governor walker is not the only one, though, with a job on the line. lieutenant governor rebecca clayfish also facing a recall on june 5. >> i am the first lieutenant governor in national history to face a recall. i will be the first lieutenant governor in national history to be elected twice in my first term. that you is that? >> up again

state like wisconsin where independents, obviously a lot of them prefer barack obama. but some of those people chose to vote for a more right-wing republican scott walker tonight. so that is what appears to be a conflict. >> well, i think you just have to look at this vote and what it was about and say that there's a message here from the voters in the state like wisconsin of all places, which says that an aggressive brand of conservatism from a governor against public employees is something that they welcome. that they believe there is a lot of bloat in their government. there's a lot of unfairness in their government. and that they wanted it corrected. i think this is something the republican governor's association put $9 million into this race. that's no coincidence. that this is something other governors are going to look at and they're going to be emboldened by this. they're going to say you know what? this is something the public approved off in a state like wisconsin. and it may make sense for us to start doing this. if i were mitt romney i'd take a look at this message and

. let's look deeper see if we can learn anything about the electorate in wisconsin tonight. number one, you have city voters, urban voters, and rural voters. let's see how they're voting tonight. you see a big win for the democrat there. 2/3 in urban areas for the democrats. it tends to match up with the 50/50. scott walker needs to match that in rural areas. that's about 1/3 of the vote. let's see in the rural areas. he is, indeed. but not a margin. this could be important to us. do rural voters in national elections, they tend to be trending republican. the republicans winning here. the question is will that margin be enough? let's go over the look again. there was a big question here about turnout. younger voters are important to the democrats. i talked to someone on the ground earlier who voiced concern. we'll look at that. the republicans have to be happy with this number. older voters have been trending republican in recent years. we'll see how they voted tonight. that percentage of the electorate is higher than 2010 when scott walker was elected. what about income groups? this h

, republican scott walker of wisconsin became the first governor to survive a recall in american history. he will be my special guest later in the program. but i am also joined in studio by an audience of business expert, political commentators and others. over the course of the next hour, we will examine the influence that unions have over our elected representatives, the dirty tricks they have used to support left-wing politicians, the impact on our public schools and much, much more. here to help kick things off, we bring in our studio audience. bright, smart, the best and brightest in business and politics. all right. let's start, jennifer stephano, tea party member, on the ground, five days in wisconsin. >> yes. >> sean: all right. scott walker ended up with a much bigger margin of victory than in 2010. what was going on on the ground? >> it had nothing to do with scott walker or the election and with who we are as americans. people are tired of working to feed a union boss and a bureaucrat and that corrupting relationship between the both of them. this is about our children's future. i

wisconsin it is "do or die" and right now everything is down to this: with five hours to go, who will win? who will lose? what will the reverberation be? we are all over the state with mike in milwaukee, the loot -- lat lieutenant -- lt. governor s is joining us, and wendell is at the white house, and at stake not only a governor and whether he can be recalled. by the way if he would be recalled it would happen for the third time in american history and scott walker hoping to buck that trend. the turn out is heavy in the entire state. both sides getting out the vote to mike tobin on how that is going. >>reporter: this polling location reminds me of what i would like to think of wisconsin. small town. people are nice. not angry. you look to the side they have a bake sale going on. that not to say it has not been busy. just about 2.8 million will cast a ballot. both created a tv moment when they dropped a ballot in the box. the average wisconsinite has endured a year and a half of bitterness. the robo calls. people knocking on the doors. neighbors not talking to neighbors. they are

michigan, they said the protests there were the largest they had seen. the protests in wisconsin were so big they shook the whole country for months. while the protests in ohio were significant, they were not ultra big. the country did not stop to watch what was happening in ohio. while the protests were going on at the time, we kept hearing from labor activists and democrats on the ground in ohio, that the reasons that the protests were not as big as you think they would be, the reason they weren't putting all their resources into organized large protests is because they had something else to do. they had another plan for reacting to the stripping of their rights. people who supported union rights in that state had another option besides protests. ohio's constitution let them put the law that stripped sit zeps right up for a citizens recall before that law went into effect. ohio republicans did pass this law but union rights were not stripped. the state union still existed. and in prepping for the recall of that law, the union could play a role in organizing and funding and making their

. in wisconsin. >> implications went national. the chair of the republican party says they will take the message across the country. the message means, he says, big labor bosses can no longer bully taxpayers of america. we know governor walker did have a conversation with mitt romney. we got a statement from the romney camp. i'll read it to you. governor walker has shown citizens and taxpayers can fight back and prevail against run away costs imposed by labor bosses. it's a different story over at the barrett camp. people are saying as long as votes are being counted they're not going to offer a concession. what we can conclude from that is that governor walker is probably not going to get a phone call from mayor barrett until they feel like enough votes have been counted. we've heard governor walker won't take the stage here until they feel enough of the counties are done getting their results in. bret? >> bret: okay z we'll bring you that speech live here on fox news channel when it happens. the lieutenant governor easily defeated professional firefighter michelle in the other big

walker, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. the numbers and what they mean, next. this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to save america began tonight. in wi

passed in march of 2011. that move triggered an effort to recall him from office to put wisconsin in state of political upheaval. this is ground zero and a struggle between conservative and union playing out from coast to coast. when the results come out in little more than 24 hours will have broad ramifications even beyond wisconsin's borders. live from madison. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> good evening. i'm bret baier. over the next hour, we will set up what has been considered by many as a huge early summer indicator of what we might see in november. in at least this state. the latest polls here are what we can expect tuesday indicate a close race. public policy polling. democratic operation. has walker up three points, 50-47. the real clear politics average-recent polls has the governor ahead by just under 7 points. we have been following both candidates throughout the state in the last couple of days, driving around wisconsin, going to rallies in each of the flags on this map. and talking to voters on all sides. we caught up with the two candidates several times. >> t

capital building in madison, wisconsin. in early 2007, scott walker moved a bill through the legislator here limiting the collective bargaining power for the public sector employees. the reaction was quick and visible. and loud. [ chanting ] >> bret: tens of thousands converged on the capital. democrats in the state senate fled business and went to hiding in illinois to prevent final vote. but eventually walker's bill passed in march of 2011. that move triggered an effort to recall him from office to put wisconsin in state of political upheaval. this is ground zero and a struggle between conservative and union playing out from coast to coast. when the results come out in little more than 24 hours will have broad ramifications even beyond wisconsin's borders. live from madison. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> good evening. i'm bret baier. over the next hour, we will set up what has been considered by many as a huge early summer indicator of what we might see in november. in at least this state. the latest polls here are what we can expect tuesday indicate a close race. pu

continues live, when the wisconsin election night started quite a few hours ago now, we all thought it was going to be a long fighted this and we were prepared for it. i had chocolate for dinner. turnout in wisconsin was reported to be huge all day and that was expected to benefit the democrats. so even if the polling heading into today's voting put the republican governor scott walker ahead and consistently ahead, well, maybe there's big turnout means that democrats were evening it up. evening it up on election day with these big turnout numbers. when we saw the exit polls today, the answers to the surveys of voters after they were done voting in wisconsin today, we saw those and it, again, seemed like it was going to be a long night and those exit polls showing an incredibly close race. they showed that union households in particular, were out in force. union households voting in a higher proportion of the electorate may have been voting in 2010. and they're voting just as heavily as they did in that previous election for democrat tom barrett over scott walker. exit polls also sho

wisconsin recall election is -- president obama. >> wisconsin is having just a complete democratic small democratic explosion. >> showdown in wisconsin! >> projecting a pretty high turnout. >> 3700 people in the district, at least 25 to 2600 voting today. >> today's race is finally going to be decided by wisconsinites. >> i've never had to wait close to this time. it's remarkable. >> it comes down to turnout. >> a maximized turnout. >> the seventh time in the past 14 months that voters have gone to the polls. >> we're not conceding any vote anywhere. >> our governor is the only governor in this country that has a criminal defense fund. >> the day filled with passion and polarization. >> governor walker wants to make this initial election. >> certainly made this a national issue. >> there's some that want to make it a national election. >> this is really sprawled out into other states. >> learn a lot about tonight. >> this is a big, clear election. >> major implications on the presidential race. >> you know, wisconsin the last few weeks? mitt romney. >> the governor of 47th snt state? job

. republicans are claiming victory after scott walker keeps his seat in wisconsin. tonight, with i have a message to democrats and the middle classers of america. you don't want to miss it. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> you're comfortable with all that outside money that came in and frankly overwhelmed tv stations? >> citizens united saved the day for scott walker in wisconsin. >> we've got to change the recall process. >> we'll go inside the numbers from last night with john nichols of "the nation" magazine. and i'll tell you why democrats and labor need a major wake-up call. >>> responsible austerity measures of reining in government growth really will help our nation. >> wisconsin's the tip of the iceberg. >> and conservatives say scott walker with's win should mean austerity everywhere. >> austerity, who'd have thought it. >> tonight, thomas frank and e.j. dionne will tell you why the righties are dead wrong. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. governor scott walker and his allies took a victory lap of sorts today after winning the recall

of what i would like to think of wisconsin. small town. people are nice. not angry. you look to the side they have a bake sale going on. that not to say it has not been busy. just about 2.8 million will cast a ballot. both created a tv moment when they dropped a ballot in the box. the average wisconsinite has endured a year and a half of bitterness. the robo calls. people knocking on the doors. neighbors not talking to neighbors. they are ready for it to be over. >> it is very important. it is very un-american. and the protests i see. i think, too, that the people are asking for something this country is not ready to give them. >> very important if nothing else to put this diversion to rest of the state politics. >>reporter: a liberal group has sent flyers to neighbors, publishing information about people would voted in that neighborhood, the veiled let is if you do not get out and vote this time your neighbors are going to know. now the government accountability board says, what they it is legal. the information they published was public record. but a conservative group calls them

wisconsin's real lieutenant governor, global warming doubter, turkey fight enthusiast and republican tv anchor, who once compared same-sex marriage to marrying a table, a clock, and a dog. i think you marry the table, then you get divorced, then you marry the clock, then you get divorced, then you marry the dog. she later apologized for having said that. her own uncle said he did not believe her apology and he donated $500 to the democrats running against her in protest of her comments and the apology he did not believe. rebecca is one of the amazing people in the middle of this drama in wisconsin, who has still somehow avoided becoming a household name, even as the craziness of that state's politics has attracted a white hot national spotlight. the recall elections happening in wisconsin tomorrow are not just going to decide the fate of governor scott walker. they will also decide the fate of the state's lieutenant governor, rebecca kleefisch. miss kleefisch is up in the recall against this man, governor mahlon mitchell. he's the president of the wisconsin firefighters union. only slig

as of 40 seconds ago the polls have closed in the great state of wisconsin. the epicenter of american political debate and american conflict since the last elections in 2010. at this hour with polls having just closed, in the recall of governor scott walker, the results that we've got in right now are these. nbc news is declaring the race too close to call. we've got a grand total of 0% in. we're obviously going to be watching this. the important thing is the too close to call declaration from nbc as the precincts come in we'll be on it. also is the state's lieutenant governor. scott walker is only the third governor in american history to face a recall as governor. three in american history. rebecca kleefisch is the first lieutenant governor to ever face a recall, period. she faces mahlon mitchell. he's a madison wisconsin firefighter. also in this race in the lieutenant governor's recall race in wisconsin, nbc news is calling this too close to call. democrats have put four republican state senate seats up for recall. the highest profile one is the seat of this senate presid

closed captioning services, inc. >> greta: tonight, tensions running high in wisconsin. the stage set for an explosive political showdown. explosive and historic. in four days a recall election that could remove a governor for the first time ever in wisconsin history. republican governor scott walker. it all started 15 months ago whistling governor walker proprosing a controversial antiunion collective bargaining law. >> corbargaining rights shouldt be taken away. >> greta: angry protesters storming the state capitol. and on the other side prowalker activists rallying for days on end. >> the cool school district in my town this is disgusting. this shouldn't happen in wisconsin. >> greta: the wisconsin battle quickly went national. president obama and speaker boehner not sugar coating their feelings. president obama called governor walker's actions a "assault on unions" and speaker boehner praised the governor for confronting problems neglected for years at the expense of jobs and economic growth. then like something out of a movie 14 democratic state senators disappeared, fleeing