8:21 PM: Gableman's party gets going
Supporters are beginning to arrive at Judge Michael Gableman's Election Night party in an American Legion meeting room connected to Ray and Dot's, a popular Greendale watering hole.
About 30 people are in attendance, grazing on cheese, crackers, veggies, fruit salad and cookies and sipping on tap beer and sodas in the brightly lit room. The crowd is mostly middle-aged and older, but several children are here helping to hang hand-made signs for Gableman.
There are no televisions in the room. Classic rock is playing on the radio.
Gableman is here as well, but just stepped out after fielding questions in short interviews with television reporters.
UPDATE: A campaign volunteer has revealed there is in fact a TV at the Gableman party. It was hidden in a cabinet above a cooler. Unfortunately, there is no picture yet, just static.
However, even if the television isn't working, supporters can still track returns; a projector connected to a computer is displaying them on a wall. With 1 percent in, it's 52 percent to 48 percent, Butler.
UPDATE #2: Gableman supporters at his party are encouraged by early returns showing him in the lead.
Gableman's cousin, Dave Gableman, announced to the crowd that "early returns are looking" good and relayed a message from Gableman thanking everyone for coming.
Gableman and his campaign manager, Darrin Schmitz, are watching returns at a relative's house nearby.
Few people in the room are tracking the returns as closely as Gableman's mom, Mary.
Nearly everyone who talks to her asks if she's proud of her son, to which she always answers "yes" with a smile.
Gableman's dad and other friends and family are also in the room.
Elected officials present so far include Ozaukee County Sheriff Maury Straub and Greendale Police Chief Robert Dams.
After a few failed attempts to get reception, the television cabinet has been shuttered.
-- By David Wise
Labels: 2008 spring election