Aides said Doyle, who has indicated he may not seek a third term, now wants to leave his mark on Wisconsin history with several new policy initiatives in the Progressive tradition. Doyle will be able to make good on those promises as he enters his second term with the state in substantially better financial shape than when he took office. As Doyle often reminded voters during the campaign, he faced a record $3.2 billion budget deficit when he came into office and managed to shrink it without making any major cuts to public education or health care for the needy. Doyle pledged during the campaign that education would remain his top priority, but he also plans to make a major push for improved citizen access to health care. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and his wife served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Tunisia in the 1960's.
Doyle gets a mandate to improve education and to make a major push for improved citizen access to health care
Doyle gets a mandate, ready to 'roll up sleeves'
By David Callender
Democratic wave After four years of playing defense against a Republican-controlled Legislature, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle now has an unparalleled chance to lead.
In a night of sweeping victories for Democrats nationwide, Doyle was one of Tuesday's big winners.
Doyle emerged from one of the most bruising gubernatorial campaigns in recent history to become the first Democratic Wisconsin governor since Patrick J. Lucey in 1974 to win a second term.
Doyle, who gave a tip of the hat to Lucey in his victory speech, defeated Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mark Green by a 52 percent to 46 percent margin, carrying 48 of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
It was a resounding victory for Doyle, who won office four years ago with just 45 percent of the vote in a three-way race against Republican Gov. Scott McCallum and Libertarian candidate Ed Thompson.
His narrow victory in that first race left Doyle open to Republican charges that he never had the full support of Wisconsin voters, but Tuesday's victory enables him to brush those charges aside.
Big plans: Aides said Doyle, who has indicated he may not seek a third term, now wants to leave his mark on Wisconsin history with several new policy initiatives in the Progressive tradition.
Doyle will be able to make good on those promises as he enters his second term with the state in substantially better financial shape than when he took office.
As Doyle often reminded voters during the campaign, he faced a record $3.2 billion budget deficit when he came into office and managed to shrink it without making any major cuts to public education or health care for the needy.
Doyle pledged during the campaign that education would remain his top priority, but he also plans to make a major push for improved citizen access to health care.
Doyle has promised to expand the BadgerCare program so every child in Wisconsin can get health insurance coverage, expand the FamilyCare program so 14,000 senior citizens and people with disabilities can stay in their homes instead of moving into nursing homes, and help create buying pools so small businesses can get better health insurance rates.
"I hope the Legislature is really ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work for what is really the number one issue for people in this state," Doyle said during a brief interview this morning.
Doyle also said he wants to make sure schools are "on a sound financial footing, so that into the future we're not talking about cutting art and music out of school curriculums." He has hinted in the past that he may revisit how the state distributes money to local school districts.
Doyle also promised to press for the Wisconsin Covenant, a plan to guarantee a college education for every high school graduate who meets certain minimum criteria.
Upper hand: The Democratic victory in the state Senate - where Democrats will hold an 18-15 majority - will give Doyle a big boost as he prepares that agenda.
For the first time since taking office, Doyle will have one house of the Legislature ready and willing to work with him - instead of seeking to thwart and embarrass him at every turn.
Doyle's first term was marked by vetoes of Republican-backed bills ranging from attempts to legalize the carrying of concealed weapons in public to restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
While Republicans never overrode any of his vetoes, it did not prevent them from passing the same bills two or three times in an effort to garner headlines, a phenomenon Doyle dubbed his "Groundhog Day," a reference to the Bill Murray movie.
Now, however, Senate Democrats are eager to work with him on issues ranging from health care to education, said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.
And with the loss of some of the Legislature's most extreme conservative voices - such as Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, and Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis - Republicans are more likely to "back off on some of the social stuff," such as abortion, gay marriage and other hot-button issues, Erpenbach said.
Doyle and Democrats will still need to compromise with Republicans who retained control of the state Assembly. But the Republicans' majority dropped to 53 of 99 seats, the lowest margin since the GOP won control of that house in 1994.
And on the plus side for Doyle, some of his most persistent foes - including Assembly Speaker John Gard, who lost his bid for a congressional seat on Tuesday - will be gone.
Green's view: The congressional seat Gard sought was vacated by Green, who conceded the race at 11 p.m. Tuesday in his hometown of Green Bay.
While reaching out to Doyle, Green also expressed bitterness.
"Sometimes I felt like I was running not only against the governor but the very organs of government, including the Elections Board itself, which all too often seemed to be stacked against us," Green said. "But that's how it goes. That's how this campaign went."
Green was put on the defensive in late August when the state Elections Board, on a vote along partisan lines, ordered him to get rid of nearly $468,000 in campaign funds.
Green accused Doyle of rigging the vote and appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which refused to take up the case before the election. Green had to put the money aside and argued that it could result in the outcome of the election being questioned.
But Green spokesman Mike Prentiss said the campaign will not contest the outcome. He said Green's only immediate plan is to go on vacation.
"After that, we'll see," Prentiss said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. E-mail: dcallender@madison.com
