Doyle Says Clear Choice Made; Green Pledges to Help

Gov. Jim Doyle said voters made a clear choice in giving him another four-year term and were tired of all the "right-wing" stuff that Republicans had given them.

Doyle is the first Dem guv to win re-election since Pat Lucey in 1974. He gave an 18-minute victory speech to supporters that touched on stem cell research, health care reform, education and reproductive rights as supporters chanted, "four more years." He also mentioned Lucey, his sister's godfather.

Doyle also thanked key members of his re-election team, including campaign chairman Marc Marotta and manager Dan Schooff, and his "MVP" Katie Boyce, his fundraiser. He also singled our Fair Wisconsin for praise.

"I hope people aren't too discouraged because their work helped my campaign and others around the state ... I thank them so much for what they have done," he said.

Speaking briefly with reporters afterward, Doyle said Mark Green was very gracious in his concession call and offered his assistance to the governor.

"I hope his family, like mine, are going to get a chance to relax," Doyle said.

Doyle said he believes voters are "fed up with the extreme right-wing stuff the Republicans have given us."

While stem cells were an important issue in the race, he said, "with a margin like this, there were a lot of issues."

"I think people made a clear choice in this, and I think there was a very clear difference in direction where we wanted to go," Doyle said. "I think what people are looking for in Wisconsin and what I've tried to do for the last four years is work on the real problems of real people and coming up with solutions instead of always going off on divisive, very ideological types of battles."

Surrounded by his family, Green pledged to help Doyle continue to make Wisconsin the greatest state in the nation despite the challenges facing the UW System, public schools and the business climate.

"As we all know, we face great challenges in Wisconsin, and we should be pulling together -- Republicans and Democrats -- alike to meet those challenges," he said.

Green expressed his gratitude to his campaign staff and supporters. His message was almost exclusively focused on how grateful he was to have had the opportunity to run for governor. But Green took one shot at the governor over the decision by the Elections Board to strip him of almost half a million dollars.

"Sometimes, I felt like I was running not only against the governor but against 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 the way it goes. That's how this campaign went."

-- By Greg Bump and Joe Ahlers