Wisconsin's board of elections has approved a request from state Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), officially ordering a recount in a recall election that some had thought had been settled in Wisconsin's 21st district.
The Associated Press reports that the state's Government Accountability Board issued the order on Monday afternoon, asking county officials to begin the process at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Democrats had earlier called on Wanggaard to concede to his recall challenger, Democrat John Lehman, who had already declared victory. The Racine County clerk had also certified the win, but Wanggaard's campaign had expressed concerns about the accuracy of the close vote, which showed the two candidates separated by about 834 votes, or 1.2 percent of around 72,000 votes cast. Wanggaard requested the recount on Friday.
The race holds statewide and national implications because it will decide which party controls the state Senate, which is split at 16 senators for each party, pending the results of this race. Furthermore, Lehman's apparent triumph was held up as a bright spot by Democrats who experienced a massive disappointment in the broader recall effort when they failed in their effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and other Republicans.
Racine County will have until July 2 to complete the recount process.
Below, a playlist to describe the unsuccessful push to recall Scott Walker:
