Donald Trump congratulates Brian Hagedorn as Lisa Neubauer contemplates recount
MADISON - President Donald Trump declared the state Supreme Court race a victory for Appeals Court Judge Brian Hagedorn on Friday as opponent Lisa Neubauer contemplated seeking a recount.
Trump tweeted congratulations to Hagedorn "on his big surprise win over a well funded Liberal Democrat in the Great State of Wisconsin" — a 6,000-vote win considered evidence of a reinvigorated Republican base of voters whose enthusiasm has waned in recent elections.
Neubauer, also a state Appeals Court judge, hasn't decided whether she will seek a recount but has been laying the groundwork all week as county elections officials canvass the votes to determine the official tally.
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On Thursday, the Neubauer campaign released a memo outlining past elections when a canvassing process changed the outcome of the races.
"Democrat Governor Evers won his race by just over a percentage point last November after Secretary Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election by just under 1 point in 2016— and as of this moment, Neubauer trails Hagedorn by less than one half of one percent," the memo reads.
"Looking back at Gore 2000, Kerry 2004, the Attorney General race in 2006, and the Supreme Court race in 2011 for similar, incredibly close results — this is a Wisconsin reality," it said.
The memo followed a Wednesday fundraising appeal from the campaign warning "dark-money right-wing forces want to win this race so they can keep rigging legislative district maps in Wisconsin."
Scott Spector, her campaign adviser, said Neubauer would make a decision about whether to seek a recount after the canvass process is complete, which should be by next week.
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Hagedorn leads Neubauer 50.25% to 49.75% with all of Tuesday's votes unofficially counted — at a margin that allows a recount.
But Neubauer's campaign will have to foot the bill. A recount of votes cast in Wisconsin during the 2016 presidential election cost taxpayers about $1.8 million but examined many more ballots than were cast in Tuesday's spring election.
Spector told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel none of the money raised for the costs of the recount would be used to pay Neubauer back for a $250,000 loan she gave to the campaign at its outset.
Charles Nichols, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said given the difference in vote totals, it's "unfortunate" Neubauer is "toying with the will of Wisconsin voters in order to raise money for her future political ambitions.”
Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.