so little attention to. at's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. breaking news at this hour. the votes are in in wisconsin. >> the polls are officially closing in the great state of wisconsin. >> repeal fever in wisconsin. >> the democrats get their chance to get even. >> a major moment for the progressive movement. >> and ed schultz live from madison. >> this is ground zero for the middle class -- >> i'm feeling really, really positive. >> washington has lots of suggestions for the president's next move. >> what can the president do? >> physically, what do you do? >> really credible changes to the budget. >> a more aggressive tone called the leaders of congress back to washington. >> the best move would be to say -- >> shiny balls. >> pretty darn [ bleep ]. >> ooh. >> the obama campaign thinks mitt romney is weird. >> mitt romney, get the phone.

>> they plan an aggressive counterattack. >> assault on both mitt romney's personality -- >> to disqualify the opponent. >> also his business background. americans think he's awkward. they mentioned his love of skinny jeans. >> the other guy looks weird in skinny jeans. >> weird. >> shiny balls. >> weird. >> and "newsweek" cannot knock michele bachmann off message. >> my name is michele bachmann. >> an unflattering "newsweek" cover. >> a-ha. we'll have to take a look at that, won't we? >> with crazy eyes. >> that is the power behind your campaign. >> one, two, three -- >> i can call this napkin a paper towel. but it is a napkin. good evening again from washington. tonight, six incumbent republican state senators in wisconsin face the voters in recall challenges. the host of "the ed show," msnbc's ed schultz, is our man

in madison, live with the latest. >> thank you, lawrence. we have just been told that district 14 has been called for luther olsen. and this is one of the democratic hopefuls. let me recap for you, lawrence, right off the top here. three republicans have been declared the winners tonight. this of course is very tough news for the democrats. but let me recap it. in the 2nd district in green bay senator bob cowles has defeated nancy nusbaum. that was a race that was expected to be won by the republicans. also, in the 10th district, including hudson, wisconsin, sheila harsdorf, the republican, has also been declared the winner over challenger shelly moore. so that was the second republican victory which was expected tonight.

but a democratic hopeful, the 14th district has now been called in favor of senator luther olsen. the challenger fred clark, the democrat, the representative, he has now been declared not victorious. luther olsen projected the winner in the wisconsin state senate race. so this would give three republicans, they are surviving this recall effort in the state of wisconsin. at this moment in the 32nd district challenger jennifer shilling is leading by 8 percentage points over senator dan kapanke. also, in the 18th district, in the 18th district randy hopper, the senator is leading by 2% of the vote over challenger jessica king. this was expected to be a win for the democrats. but those are the numbers. hopper in with 22,788. and jessica king in at 22,212.

51% to 49%. and we've also got a very interesting race. in the 8th district, suburban milwaukee, alberta darling is trailing at this hour to challenger representative sandy pasch by 8% of the vote. pasch in with 12,032 votes at 56%. and roberta darling in with that number you that saw on the screen there, with 44% of the votes. so it's still a very good chance for the democrats to get three. but the surprise here is the showing of randy hopper, the state senator. for more on that let's go to john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine. three republican victories declared tonight. john, how do you see the other three races? >> well, let me tell you this. i will tell you right now, i believe that jess king will defeat randy hopper. and i'll tell you why.

because oshkosh, wisconsin, which is jess king's heartland, it's where she was the vice mayor and a long-time city council member, has not reported. she won that town by 5,000 votes last time. i think she's going to come up. she's got space to move. now, i've got to be honest with you, though, in that sandy pasch race, sandy is ahead now but there is still some tough suburban turf out for her. so she's got -- there are no guarantees she's going to win that. so what i will tell you is i believe that there's a very good chance -- i think jen shilling is going to win in lacrosse. i think that jess king i expect can win in that randy hopper district. sandy pasch is the one we're going to really end up watching for a long time yet tonight to see what comes in on her. >> so it turns out as it looks right now it could be one or three. >> it could be one or three. >> as it looks right now. adam green, the pccc co-founder, has done boots on the ground and some amazing work here. your thoughts on what's being reported tonight. it's declared three republicans

have won and the other three very close for the democrats. what do you think? >> well, hope is absolutely still alive. three is the magic number. and amazing credit goes out to the boots on the ground. the people of wisconsin who have really been knocking on doors and doing so much leg work. but i do want to say this. there's one of those three races i'm really looking at most from a national perspective and that is sandy pasch versus alberta darling. this has been ground zero in the national republican war on working families. not only scott walker's budget but paul ryan's plan to end medicare medicare. and sandy pasch, sandy pasch and alberta darling are in paul ryan's neck of the woods, right around milwaukee. so if sandy pasch wins this, that is a bad omen for paul ryan next year. >> let's go to district 18, though, adam. isn't this somewhat of a surprising showing by randy hopper? there were many people that thought that jessica king was going to be able to go away with that. and 87% we can report right now, 87% of the vote reporting, we've

got king and hopper in at 50% each. king is up by 137 votes. wow. >> did i tell you it was going to come up? did i tell you? >> so the magic number is three for the democrats. and the democrats are still within striking distance. >> i'm telling you, man, those oshkosh voters. my dad was born in oshkosh, brother. they won't let you down there. >> but randy hopper's showing, adam, has been somewhat surprising, has it not? >> it has been. but again, the people hopefully will win out this race. i think it was just declared on msnbc that john nichols is the reigning champion when it comes to wisconsin coverage. >> so district 14 goes to the republicans. also district 10 goes to the republicans. and district 2 goes to the republicans. 32. district 32, we are reporting tonight that district 32,

including the city of lacrosse, has been called for the democrat, jennifer shilling. jennifer shilling has been declared the winner in district 32 over state senator dan kapanke. kapanke is the first republican to be recalled in wisconsin. john? >> and ed, this is something we should underline. a republican senator, a veteran who has won again and again, won in the obama landslide year, was defeated after he voted to take away labor rights. that was never going to happen until this year. >> how big a win is this for jennifer shilling and the democrats? >> that district the democrats have been trying to win for decades. they have had a very hard time

getting that district back. they finally got it back, and we have to recognize that that is a district where jen shilling went out and said i stand for labor rights. she was in the assembly. she voted against the walker agenda. kapanke in the senate voted for it. >> so it has been a long run for the democrats since the month of january. and it's 8 after the hour. central time here in wisconsin. and the first democrat has been successful in the recall effort. and it is jennifer shilling in district 32. la crosse. she defeats dan kapanke with 19,928 votes to 16,537 votes. 55% to 45%. >> great big win. good solid win. >> so the count is three for the republicans and one for the democrats. with two races to go. district 18, randy hopper and

jessica king, two races left. the democrats are leading in both of those races. keep in mind, the magic number is three. for the democrats to take over the state senate that chamber, the magic number is three. they've got one seat, and they lead in two other races. john nichols, taking a look at the alberta darling-sandy pasch race, that was one of the hopefuls, not one of the expecteds. the money that was poured in there, unprecedented. >> ed, that could yet, when we add it all up, turn out to be the most expensive legislative race in the entire history of the united states. >> so what has sandy pasch done to win that from what you can see? >> i was in that district. add adam was as well. the fact is sandy pasch didn't have the money that alberta darling had but sandy pasch had people power like you could not believe.

crowds and crowds of people out there knocking on doors. >> and we're now reporting 43% of the vote in. pasch leading. she's holding the lead 55% to 45% with 33% of the vote being counted. adam green? >> straight out. history has been made tonight. in the entire history of wisconsin only four recalls have been attempted for legislative races. we just won one. it's huge. it's huge. and no one has ever won where there wasn't some sort of legal issue or some sort of scandal. here you're having somebody win a race on the basis of an issue and that issue is labor rights. >> folks, you're watching -- you are watching political history unfold here tonight. there were only, up to tonight, 20 recalls since 1913. 13 of those recalls nationally have been successful. obviously, six more races tonight.

three go to the republicans, one to the democrats, and of course two democrats are leading in the other races. >> can i remind you of something? that ed, a democrat won on july 12th. dave hansen has already won a race. now we've got another democrat who's won tonight. and you might have one or two more tonight. >> adam, why do you say this is so huge? i mean, the magic number's three. you've only got one. why are you putting so much stock in a victory of defeating dan kapanke? >> well, there's a reason that the entire nation is watching wisconsin tonight. and again, there's a large proposition here, which is that when republicans declare war on middle-class working families republicans will go down at the hands of voters. and when democrats stand strong, when democrats have a backbone and stand strong like the wisconsin 14 did, the grassroots will come out, thousands of people will knock on doors, and that's exactly what democrats need. so this is a big political proposition that we are proving here tonight. >> we continue to follow district 8. sandy pasch is leading alberta darling. and also in district 18.

that too a close one. jessica king and randy hopper. that is too close to call. so two democrats are still in the hunt. three republicans have been declared the winners tonight. "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" continues here on msnbc. i'm ed schultz reporting live from madison, wisconsin. stay with us. so much more coming up. coffee doesn't have vitamins... unless you want it to. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™.

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stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. you are watching a special edition of "lawrence o'donnell the last word." i'm ed schultz reporting live from madison, wisconsin, tonight. with the recall elections under way, three republicans have dodged a bullet tonight, and they will go back to the wisconsin state senate. one democrat has been declared the winner. and there are two other races that are in the balance right now. in the 8th district, 57% of the vote has been counted. and sandy pasch, the challenger, is leading state senator alberta darling by 58% to 42%. 18,000 votes for pasch.

13,000-plus for darling. john nichols of "the nation" magazine, that gap is widening. what does it mean? >> well, what it means is that the milwaukee and suburb votes are in. and i've got to be honest with you. i'm not going to lie to folks. as the night goes on you're going to see some of those out county suburban votes come in. that race will get closer. but i am quite amazed by the level of the lead that sandy pasch has opened up. this is going to be the race we watch for a while longer tonight. >> and of course in the 18th district, where there is another democratic hopeful, you have randy hopper, the state senator, the republican being challenged by jessica king. that too is just too close to call. and that one is going down to the wire. >> i think so. but i think jess king, if i'm looking at the different counties that are in and out on that one, i've got a pretty strong sense that that race is

going to break toward jess king. >> all right. let's go back. let's go back to the 8th district, if we can. john nichols just predicted that that race was going to tighten, and it has. with 63% of the vote now being counted, alberta darling has closed the gap. pasch still leads 51% to 49%. that has now been closed dramatically. pasch leading 51% to 49%. >> you've got big voting suburbs there that are very, very republican. i will remind you, ed, that the supreme court race that we had back in april, waukesha county suddenly discovered a lot of votes there, well, part of this district includes walk ukesha county. there's very strong republican turf there, and you've got to keep an eye on that. >> so far three wins for the republicans, one for the democrats, and two races get to be called.

but the democrats are leading. joining us now is state representative peter barker. peter, good to have you with us tonight. what do you make of this? >> well, it's an exciting night. and you can tell it's going to be a long night. we hope that it doesn't come down to a recount. we'd love to see us win straight out. but it's going to be a very long and exciting night. >> what do you mean recall -- you mean a recount? >> a recount. >> and what is the state law in wisconsin for a recount? >> well, if it's a half a percent or less, then it's paid for by the district. if it's more than that, then the candidates have to pay. >> john erpenbach, senator with us tonight. your thoughts on these last two races going head to head, too close to call. what do you make of them? >> just the fact that as john said sandy pasch is doing as well as she's doing in what is

really a pretty hardcore republican part of the state says an awful lot about sandy pasch's support. but more importantly, it sends a much larger message because i think when you take this issue of collective bargaining and medicaid and everything that the governor's tried to do in the state of wisconsin, you take it statewide, that should probably scare the hell out of scott walker, if he's seeing what's going on in roberta darling's district. >> i think people across wisconsin and people across the country that are following this closely, john, are realizing how heavy a lift this is for democrats in the challenge. these are all republican districts, obviously. although president obama did win them in 2008, walker won them when he won election in 2010. so how do you dissect this at this point? i mean, it is so close. are the independent voters really making the difference here? >> yeah. there's part of that there too. but what happens traditionally in wisconsin is democrats, the democrat at the top of the ticket usually does fairly well. when you get down to the legislative races, whether it's state assembly or in the state senate, they go more so for the person that they know. they know alberta darling. and given the race that she's in tonight, they're not real thrilled to death with her metamorphosis over time moving

to the far, far right. but in the end, ed, if you do take these issues statewide, and we're playing in the back yard of the republicans right now and we're doing as well as we're doing, it says a lot about what people in wisconsin as a whole feel. >> so how big would it be if you did get three seats tonight? in f. if jessica king wins, if sandy pasch comes through, how big is that going to be to get these three seats? >> it would be huge, not only here in the state of wisconsin, but it would send a message to all the republican governors all throughout the country and the republican houses throughout the country that you'd better not mess with the middle class anymore because they will stand up and fight. >> do you agree with that, that this would be absolutely -- if you won three that would be a political earthquake in wisconsin? >> even winning two would be absolutely enormous because ed, as you've said, these are all republican districts and it is remarkable how well we have done in so many of these seats tonight. >> i think there's a real air of apprehension here tonight, john nichols, that if the democrats were to get just one seat it would be short of expectations

and it would also be a rough night at the office and a rough message sent and it is something that republicans would take and republican with in every state, saying that they are on the right side of the issues. >> yeah. although i think you have to be careful with that. let's start with the fact that these are districts that voted for scott walker for governor in 2010. all of them. already one of them has said boy, we made a big mistake. we're getting rid of our republican state senators. we've got another one that may do that. and i want to emphasize something, ed, that when the collective bargaining bill came up in the state senate it didn't win by three votes. it won by one vote. and that's because one republican senator dale schultz from southwest wisconsin voted with the democrats. if you send two democrats into the state senate, then dale schultz, a moderate republican who has broken with the governor

on a number of issues could do the right thing and begin to tip the balance on some major matters here. >> you think he would vote with the democrats if it came up again? >> i would ask john erpenbach that question. >> john, what do you think? >> i have a tremendous amount of respect for dale schultz. he's always been a guy who deals more so with issue as opposed to the party. he was majority leader for a while here at the capitol and he had his hands full with an extremely conservative caucus but he did well. he's a rational guy. he's a practical guy. so we'll see. >> but this would be a real shot over the bow, maybe a direct hit at organized labor, if this isn't successful tonight. fair statement? >> no, no. i don't think so. i really truly don't think so. if anything i think what it's done is it's re-energized organized labor. we saw that starting in february. organized labor is awake. but more importantly, the people who benefit indirectly from collective bargaining, the salaries that are set indirectly by collective bargaining, those

are the people who have really woken up, and they understand that when you go after organized labor and you go after unions the way the governor has it's going to have an impact on them. >> gentlemen, stay with us. our coverage continues here. the numbers are this. three republicans have been declared the winners tonight. one democrat has won in a recall election. there are two that are very close. we continue with "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz reporting live from madison, wisconsin. stay with us. we're back on msnbc.

back live in madison, wisconsin on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz reporting live tonight from the state of wisconsin. three republicans have been declared the winners tonight in the recall elections. one democrat has won and two races are very close. in the 18th district randy hopper, the incumbent, being challenged by jessica king. john nichols, what can you tell us the latest? >> jessica king is a little tiny bit ahead but i just spoke to the former attorney general who lives in that district, that's her turf, she's from fond du lac. she says she's been through the numbers of the counties, she is certain jess king is going to win that race. >> and another race that has tightened up is the 8th district. sandy pasch is barely leading alberta darling. this one is going down to the wine. 51% to 49%. sandy pasch leading alberta

darling. but it is still way too close to call. we'll continue with all of our updates and analysis here from madison, wisconsin on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz. stay with us. you're watching msnbc. [ female announcer ] what if your natural beauty could be flawless too? discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers.

i'm ed schultz reporting live from madison, wisconsin. on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i've got a feeling we're not going to be leaving here tonight until we have the last word. three republicans have been victorious tonight and an effort to recall three of the republicans has failed on the part of the democrats. and also we have got one democrat who has won in the recall effort, and that's jennifer shilling in district 32. but in the two other districts, district 18, jessica king and randy hopper are locked neck and neck, too close to call. and in district 8 alberta darling and sandy pasch are very close as well. pasch leading 51% to 49%. that was the last number we had. joining us now is state senator

lena taylor. lena, what can you tell us about that race tonight? >> well, what i know for sure about that race is that the milwaukee numbers, i've not received a call in on those, and there are absentee ballots that are still out. so no matter what the numbers show, until those absentee ballots are counted, we've not -- we're not going to concede. >> so you're saying we may not have a decision tonight in that race? >> i won't say that. i'll say that it will take a little longer because those absentee ballots need to come in and once they come in i think they're going to favor the woman who's passionate about the people. >> are you surprised at the showing by sandy pasch? >> you know, it is very surprising. i mean, let's remember, we're playing on the republicans' territory here. these are republican districts. these are districts, as you stated, that walker won. taking out alberta darling is a huge task. so i'm surprised that sandy was able to do so strongly in the district. but she's such a great candidate. and the people were very disgusted by what alberta has done by being a rubber stamp legislator for scott walker.

>> well, sandy pasch lngrse note been counted. but how many absentee ballots do you think went out in that district? >> i don't know for sure, but i'll say on one day in particular i knew that they had taken at least 700 people to early vote. so arguably there's more than 700 out because that was one day. >> let's go to fred rhyser, state senator. senator, good to have you with us tonight. there's been a lot of positive comments tonight about the democratic showing, but i only see one victory so far. how do you give it -- what's your analysis of that? >> i am optimistic. we really won tonight. on every race we almost won if we didn't win. we made -- we won a couple battles and we're going to keep going until we do win the war. >> well, the magic number is three.

you're still leading with two other democrats after one has already won. do you think jessica king can beat randy hopper? >> absolutely. >> and what about sandy pasch with alberta darling? >> she's a wonderful candidate. i'm hoping she comes through too. >> joining us now is scott ross with one wisconsin now. this gentleman has lead a terrific boots on the ground effort here in wisconsin. scott, your response to the results tonight. >> well, i think that this is far from over, and i think that the showing by the people of wisconsin in what has happened in this wonderful campaign on the progressive side, which involved two weeks ago they hit 1 million doors knocked here in the state of wisconsin, 12,000 volunteers stood up, called their neighbors, went door to door to make sure that governor walker, that he would not have the final say in all of this, and this is far from over. governor walker declared war on the middle class here in wisconsin when he handed out $2.3 billion in tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy while cutting $1.6 billion from our public schools.

what does that translate into? that translates into less teachers in the classrooms, less classes in the curriculum, and less -- and more schools being closed. >> so why is this recall effort so tough? >> well, you know, again, like you say, all six of these races were won by republicans during the 2008 landslide. so they're difficult places. but campaigns are snapshots in time. and the progressivism and the activism and enthusiasm that's been seen not just when you got here at one of the first people on the scene -- >> we've got an update, and i'll get a response from all of you on this. with 97% of the vote having been counted in district 18, jessica king with 51% of the vote randy hopper with 49% of the vote. king is now leading by 1,200 votes. king leading by 1,200 votes. 51-49. scot ross, what can you tell us?

one wisconsin now. what can you tell us about district 18? >> well, it sounds like things have definitely trended in the right direction. and the voters have spoken. and we have just a handful of things going. >> what kind of ground game did you have in district 18 against randy hopper? >> there was an amazing ground game that was put out there. people knocking on doors. pounding the phones. talking to their neighbors. doing whatever was necessary in order to convince them that they needed to make a change. >> but was there a strategy to this or were you just winging it, sending people out, ten people a day, 20 people tomorrow? i mean, was there a real concerted effort and strategy to all of this ground game? >> absolutely. and the organization we are wisconsin did an amazing job in making sure those people got out to the polls today. and we're seeing the fruits of that in this what you say 1,200-vote margin with just 3% left. >> all right. we've got more results coming in. in district 8, with 67% of the vote being recorded, sandy pasch with 52% of the vote and alberta darling with 48% of the vote.

pasch is up by 1,200 votes. i'll tell you what, folks. what you are witnessing tonight here on msnbc is national political history. it is a recall effort that is well funded, very intense, and down to the wire. lena taylor? >> it's unprecedented. as a matter of fact, this will be the largest number of recalls that we've won in the state's history. and more importantly, i think what you're seeing is people are fed up. and at the very least people have said we're not happy -- >> we are now -- excuse me. we are now hearing that district 18 the projected winner is

democrat jessica king. you are watching live coverage on msnbc. three republicans have won. two democrats have won. there is still one race that has to be called. we'll continue here on msnbc with "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz reporting live from the state of wisconsin. stay with us. it's a barn burner, and it's going to the wire.

welcome back to madison, wisconsin on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz reporting live tonight. on the top of our broadcast on "the ed show" of the six races we pointed out two republicans that were expected to win and two democrats that were expected to win. and that is exactly how it's come down. the two republicans expected to win have won tonight, and that's

sheila harsdorf and robert cowles. the two democrats that progressives in the state were counting on winning have won tonight. jessica king in the 18th district has defeated randy hopper. and jennifer shilling has defeated dan kapanke. we continue with more results here in madison with one race yet to be called. stay with us. we're right back. at progressiv, you can compare rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. wow! that is huge! [ disco playing ] and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

it's "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz reporting live tonight here on msnbc from madison, wisconsin as the results continue to come in. the race we are now waiting for is in the 8th district, suburban milwaukee. and at this hour 67% of the votes having been counted, sandy pasch is leading alberta darling 52% to 48%. she is up by roughly 1,200 votes. we are told that some of the votes are not coming in. coming in a little bit slow, in fact. john nichols, "nation" magazine, what are you hearing on the ground in this district? >> well, here's what we know. this district is going to end up with a close result. perhaps even in the recount zone. because waukesha county, which was such a problematic county in our supreme court race, is reportedly still not returning its results. we don't have them in yet. until people -- >> the crowd knows what that

means. >> the crowd is scared. >> in waukesha county you had problems in the supreme court race. >> and we are getting reports that -- >> with david prosser and cloppenberg, the challenger. >> yeah. >> what happened in those votes? >> with the supreme court race? >> yes. >> two days after the election was called for clappenberg, the challenger, the county clerk there found 14,000 votes she had forgotten to count. >> and what are we seeing tonight in that district? >> what we're seeing is something different tonight. what we're seeing tonight is just these results aren't being reported. everybody's saying where's waukesha county, where are those numbers? because this is a very close race. we expect waukesha county will help alberta darling. but the question is how much is it going to give her? if it doesn't give her that much, sandy pasch can win this race. i also understand there are absentee ballots out in areas that are very strong for pasch. bottom line is this is going to be a close, close result here. >> do you think it will be called tonight? >> i'm not sure. >> 23,451 for pasch.

and you see the number up there for alberta darling. and it is very close. 21,713 for darling. 52% to 48% with 67% of the vote being counted so far. what we have, folks, as i said, i can't underscore this enough, this is national political history unfolding before our eyes. a recall effort unprecedented here in the state of wisconsin and in this country and tonight we are seeing three republicans who have fought back the recall. two democrats who have been successful in their recall efforts. and that graphic we just showed you up right there in the 8th district is the result that we are waiting for tonight. alberta darling, who had over $8 million pumped into her campaign, much of it outside money, outspending sandy pasch. but the boots on the ground, the organization, the social networking, the due diligence of the democrats have kept sandy pasch within striking distance,

and with 67% of the vote she leads right now with just over 23,000 votes to 21,000 votes. and john nichols, the absentee vote obviously is going to be very important. but we really don't know exactly what the full number is on the absentee ballots. >> we don't. but can you imagine, this ed? after all of this. after all of this we might come down to a contested unsettled result in one race. >> and just for our viewers, again, what is the state law for a recount, whether it be a general election or a recall? >> same thing. if it's under half a percent, the state pays for the recount, and it's an official recount done by the local officials. if it's over half a percent, then the candidate has to pay. that won't frankly be a problem. but the fact is what we're really interested in now is getting all these votes reported and finding out just how close this race is. >> all right. we have been talking about the national impact on this. and i've got a great story to tell tonight. mahlon mitchell, who is the president of the professional

firefighters of wisconsin, who are these gentlemen to your left? >> these are firefighters from new york who have come to help in the fight. uniformed emt and paramedics and inspectors from new york that have come to help with the jessica king fight. >> sir, what's your name? >> my name is israel miranda. i'm the vice president of the uniformed emts and paramedics of the new york city fire department. >> why are you here tonight? >> i'm here -- first of all, thank you, wisconsin for your generosity, in the way you treated us. we came here to support you. okay? we know what's happening here is wrong. and new york is watching. and we support you. all the unions in new york city support you. we've been here knocking on doors, giving out leaflets and getting people to come out and vote. and the message that we have for the governor of this state is that he must go. >> your name, sir. >> aaron barnsly.

>> why are you here? >> on september 11 wisconsin came to our help for ground zero. this is ground zero for them. we're here to support them as well. >> new york's finest here in madison. sir, your name. >> bill rush. >> why are you here? >> this is where we're needed. >> you're needed here? >> yes. >> when did you get the call and when did you see the need? >> right away. >> your name, sir. >> any name is john rugen. >> why are you here tonight? >> i'm here to support the unions, everybody else. and if they need us, we're here. >> mahlon mitchell, this speaks volumes about these firefighters. >> it shows that wisconsin has not only touched our state but wisconsin has touched the entire nation. i've had the pleasure of going all around the united states. and i want to tell you, right here is what you're seeing. we're not going to be the corporations of wisconsin. we're the state of wisconsin, not the corporation of wisconsin. >> you're watching "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." i'm ed schultz reporting live from madison, wisconsin. we're still awaiting one race, one result.

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welcome back to "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." msnbc. i'm ed schultz reporting live tonight from madison, wisconsin. at the top of the hour "the rachel maddow show." you'll certainly want to see that as our coverage continues here. we have some news coming out of district 8, suburban milwaukee. the alberta darling-sandy pasch race. 68% of the vote being recorded tonight. pasch leading 51% to 49%. pasch is up by 1,100 votes. but we are being told now by waukesha county election officials that there will be no results for at least one hour. john nichols, you hear the

response from the crowd on that. put this in perspective. what does this mean? this is coming from think progress. think progress is reporting tonight that waukesha county officials have told them that there will be no results for at least an hour p. >> it's frankly very unsettling, ed, because -- >> vet unsettling? why? >> in the supreme court race between jerry prosser, very close to the governor, clappenberg, challenger backed by a lot of these folks, the unions as well, waukesha county held its results back longer than anyone else. on election night they popped in a bunch very late that put prosser up. then clappenberg came back and waukesha came back two days later finding 14,000 additional votes. there is a great discomfort. and people will say whatever they want. bottom line on waukesha county is this happens election after election and it always ends up helping the republicans. >> who are the people in charge of that county? >> there's a woman named cathy nicholas who is the county clerk

there, and she has been criticized even by the republican leaders on the county board for doing a poor job of managing elections. >> we're speculating here. why would the votes be coming in an hour late? >> it does not make sense, ed. they have the same machinery. they should not be getting votes in an hour late. >> so there's no reason for that district to be late reporting as opposed to the others that have already been called? >> again, i would say it is unsettling and it's one of those things that this is not the first time and not the second time it has happened in that county. >> i want to go to tony schultz, a wisconsin farmers union member and vegetable and beet farmer from northern wisconsin. rural wisconsin spoke tonight for the democrats. randy hopper was defeated. dan kapanke was defeated. the democrats picking up wins in districts 18 and 32. tony, your response to that. how do you feel about a real change taking place in rural wisconsin? >> i feel good.

i feel like a lot of people in rural wisconsin are seeing the walker agenda as nothing more than an attack on them and the long history of -- long fight between the haves and the have nots. farmers are standing with workers. they're getting out to the polls. after tonight, though, we've got to continue goat to the polls. next week jim holperin is up for election up in our rural district in northern wisconsin and we've got to show up strong for him. >> but how encouraged, with the final results not coming in from the district we were just talking about, district 8, how encouraged are you that two rural districts went to the democrats tonight? the magic number's three, but you've got two so far. >> i'm encouraged, but we need three. we need three, and we can't have florida-style shenanigans, calling this race. we need democracy to call this race. this is what democracy looks like.

>> now, we have often talked about the savvy and the knowledge of the people that you're looking at right now here in the state of wisconsin. when it comes to politics, they score an "a" on all of their tests, so to speak. when you mention the name of who's in charge of the votes in waukesha county, you heard the response of the crowd. been down this road before. have been there, have seen it. am i right on that? okay. what does this mean, john? >> well, look, i've said it before, it's unsettling because here we are down. this entire battle, month after month, we come down to needing three. one last seat and it comes down to waukesha county, the county that has been the trouble zone in getting our votes counted. you know, people have a lot of patience with election officials. they know it's hard to count votes. but when you have trouble election after election after election, you start to get to a point where maybe tammy baldwin, the congresswoman from madison,

was right when she asked the u.s. justice department to come in and look at waukesha county. which she did in april. >> you can't make this stuff up. you've got six recall elections tonight. three go to the republicans. two go to the democrats. and one that hasn't been called yet just so happens to be the one that had some shenanigans during the supreme court race. i mean, you couldn't write this. >> such shenanigans again that i will emphasize a sitting member of congress from wisconsin asked for a justice department investigation investigation. now we have another problem there. and i'm amazed, simply amazed that cathy nicholas, the county clerk there, didn't have every i dotted and t crossed. >> the scorecard says three for the republicans two, for the democrats, and the final race in district 8 with 68% of the vote in, pasch the democrat leading