Doyle's Election is Victory for Great Schools

The election of Jim Doyle as governor and Barbara Lawton as lieutenant governor is a victory for Wisconsin's great schools and the children of Wisconsin, WEAC President Stan Johnson said Tuesday night.

"Jim Doyle respects teachers, education support professionals, and the institution of public education," Johnson said. "He understands that great schools place students in classrooms that work, that great schools depend on great teachers and staff, and that great schools benefit everyone."

Governor-Elect Jim Doyle and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Barbara Lawton.

Johnson applauded WEAC members throughout the state for their unrelenting determination in helping to elect Doyle, who was recommended by WEAC members in a statewide member ballot last summer.

"WEAC members gave their all to this election," Johnson said. "They staffed phone banks, passed out literature, contributed to pro-education candidates, wrote letters to the editor, and organized their colleagues in impressive numbers.

"Without a doubt, WEAC members played a significant role in this election victory."

As of late night Tuesday (November 5, 2002), the returns showed Democrat Doyle winning the election with 45% of the vote, while Republican Scott McCallum got 42%. Libertarian candidate Ed Thompson received 10%, and Green Party candidate Jim Young received 3%.

McCallum conceded the race at 11:45 p.m., saying it is "time to heal" and urging all state residents to support Doyle "in his endeavors to make Wisconsin better."

In his victory speech shortly after midnight, Doyle said, "It's a new day for Wisconsin."

"It's a new day for children and families, and it's a new day for seniors and taxpayers. And it's a new day for teachers," Doyle said, interjecting one his most frequent campaign slogans, "What are we going to end? We're going to end the war on teachers!"

"It's a new day for nurses, it's a new day for firefighters, and everyone else who gives time to trying to improve the lives of others," he continued. "We're going to change the way we do things here in Madison. From here on out, the Capitol belongs to you."

Doyle said his election "is a mandate to clean up government and put the state back on the right track and restore our pride in Wisconsin."

He said he wanted to "offer a call across the bitterness and partisan divide of this campaign ... The campaign is over. A new government is chosen. Now let us move forward together."

Doyle, Wisconsin's first Democratic governor since Tony Earl in 1985, will be working with a Republican-controlled Legislature. Republicans maintained control of the State Assembly and captured control of the State Sentate in Tuesday's elections.

During his campaign for governor, Doyle repeatedly stated that education is his top priority and that his first proclamation as governor would be that, "The war on teachers is over."

Doyle said he will work to repeal the state's unfair collective bargaining law for teachers – called the Qualified Economic Offer law – and to revamp the state's inequitable system of financing K-12 education.

"The quality of a child's education should not depend on where he or she lives or how much their parents make," Doyle said in an October 24 speech at the WEAC Convention. The current system punishes property-poor school districts and leaves behind children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as special education children, children at risk, and children with limited English-speaking skills, he said.

Doyle also said he supports smaller class sizes, including the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) class-size reduction program.

"My goal is to have a well-qualified teacher in every classroom, with a class size small enough to let the real magic of education take place," he said.

Posted November 6, 2002

Text of Jim Doyle's victory speech
Resource page on Election 2002