and jim holperin thought to be more vulnerable tops kim simac.ck on public workers as the reason why we've been having these historic races. there have been nine wins in all. last week the dems ousted two republican senators and all three up for recall kept their jobs. so let me ask you, where is the huge victory for governor scott walker? there is none. the imagine is what it is, the math is just not there for walker. time now to call in washington correspondent of the nation magazine, john nichols. good to have you with us tonight. i don't know, i go back to miss harper's fourth grade class. she was teaching this new math. where's the victory in this recall season? >> there is no republican victory. let's be very clear about what has happened. over the course of a month and a half or a little under a month and a half. wisconsin has had a series of recall elections. democrats have won the majority of the recall elections. they have also won the majority of votes cast in all of these districts across the state. and they have created a situation i

but as i drove through the district, i was struck that those jim holperin signs were out on the countrytowns and my sense is he's done what he needs to do to solidify himself. still, it will be a tough race. the other race in southeastern wisconsin is a guy named bob wirch, a veteran state senator as well. they nominated a corporate lawyer against him. and my gut instinct, that this just isn't going to be a good season for corporate lawyers. so i will predict that bob wirch will win pretty easily. >> all right, my friend, john nichols of "the nation" magazine, thank you very much for your time. >> and we want to remind you that ed will be broadcasting live from madison next week. he'll be outside the capitol building on the corner of east washington and pinkney on august 8th and 9th. washington is asking where are the jobs? new york's mayor is showing everyone how to create them. i'll talk with professor james peterson about mike bloomberg's jobs plan. tom, check this out. good gravy, bill. our insurance company doesn't have anything like it. magnificent, isn't it? with progressive, it'

next week jim holperin is up for election up in our rural district in northern wisconsin and we've got 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 batt

right now with 19% of precincts reporting, jim holperin has 57% of the vote. his challenger has 46% of the vote. holperin won in 2008. narrowly beating the republican candidate. that district leans republican with scott walker winning more than 57% of the vote there in november. and the conservative supreme court justice candidate winning ten of the 11 counties in the district just back in april. senator holperin's challenger has not held office before, she's a small business owner and author. her most recent book is titled with my rifle by my side. this race in district 12 could have been expected to be close this evening. at this point it's too el to say whether it will be. at this hour, with 19% of precincts reporting, the incumbent has 54% of the vote and republican challenger kim simac has 46%. the other election district 22. at this hour, we have 14% of precincts reporting, the incumbent senator bob wirch has 44%. the challenger has 56%. senator wirch has been elected four times including in 2004, when he beat the now national republican party chairman.

jim holperin represents northeastern wisconsin and he's been working real hard.been up in his district now four or five times at events, 400, 500 people are showing up. if we have a close race, it would be that one, but i don't think we'll be outworked so i think jim will win. >> in terms of the rest of the country watching wisconsin here, part of the reason these recall elections are national news is because the scott walker and republicans agenda, this very, very strong anti-union agenda has a lot of national resonance and people are wondering if that upset is enough to actually flip election results back the other way, and in wisconsin right now, you guys need to -- you democrats need to net three seats in order to flip the senate back to democratic control. if that happens, what are you going to show the country you want to do with that? what would your priorities become? >> that's a great question. i guarantee those who are watching closest around the world, around the country, are republican governors and state legislators. if we do stem the tide here, it's

next week jim holperin is up for election up in our rural district in northern wisconsin and we've got 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 mon