republican state senator dan kapanke in at 49%. this is "the ed show," live from madison, wisconsin. let's get to work. >>> good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show," tonight from madison, wisconsin. if i was in an arena, i would say it's in front of a packed house. we are just across the street from the state capitol, where all the activity has taken place here for the last six months. it has been a long run to tonight's activity and election. it is way too early to call anything. a lot of the votes that are being counted are in the rural areas of the district. joining me tonight, we have just about everybody who's a player in this whole issue. especially the best fans in america. [ cheers and applause ] john nichols joins us off the top tonight from "the nation" magazine. john, early returns. it looks like a good start for the republicans. >> i'd be cautious about that, ed. our rural communities turn their votes in early. they count fast because they have fewer votes. when i look at these districts, one of the things

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

dan kapanke has served in the wisconsin state senate since 2004. his opponent tonight, jennifer shilling, isht interestingly said that she actually voted for dan kapanke in the past but this time she decided to challenge him for his seat because of his actions under scott walker this year. jennifer shilling's challenge has been successful tonight. jennifer shilling, who has served in the wisconsin state assembly since 2000, will now take a seat in the wisconsin state senate. three republican senators have held on to their seats tonight, fending off recall efforts. one of them is republican senator robert cowles. he easily held on to his seat tonight. robert cowles's recall race against democratic challenger nancy nusbaum was the first one that was called tonight. it was called in senator cowles's favor. in this race senator cowles had been considered the safest of the six republicans facing recall tonight. the petition to recall him was the last one to be filed, and in a set of elections that was drenched in campaign cash the total spending on both

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

jennifer schilling beat dan kapanke. and hopper was defeated by jessica king.lly captured the spirit of a lot of happy democrats in the state last night. they were pumped up. that said, had democrats prevailed in just one more race, they wouldn't have just narrowed the republicans majority, democrats would have been in control of the state senate. republicans were delighted they didn't lose control of the state senate. democrats are happy they picked off two senators and they're happy the margin is at least down for now, down to one republican vote. also democrats say today they are happy with what last night's numbers might mean for a planned effort next year. >> recall walker! >> recall walker they are saying. folks celebrating. jessica king did not wait a day to turn their next focus to walker. they would like to begin the process of recalling the governor as soon as possible. the governor can't be recalled until he's been in office a full year. organizers would have 60 days to collect 100,000 signatures. if they force a recall election against scott walker,

over in lacrosse, wisconsin, antiunion dan kapanke trying to fend off democratic challenger jennifer schilling. in the tenth district in river falls, sheila harsdorf against shelly moore. the two hottest races at this hour are alberta darling holding on for her political life from hard charging democratic state representative sandy pasch. republican luther olsen who hasn't had to face a democrat in 16 years faces fred clark a democrat. when you look at what has unfolded in this state over the last six months, i offer to you tonight, viewers, this is a micro cosm of what's happening in the country. i believe wisconsin is fighting back against citizens united. these americans here in wisconsin, they have done the due diligence. they have fought back against a radical agenda. maybe they didn't know what they were voting for in november, 2010. in january, they found out what they voted for. what was presented to them was nothing but an attack on the middle class. this is a state rich in tradition when it comes to respecting workers, respecting debate and those with a different opinion. m