2011 Wisconsin Act 10
The 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, is legislation proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker and passed by the Wisconsin Legislature to address a projected $3.6 billion budget deficit. The legislation primarily affects the following areas: collective bargaining, compensation, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of public sector employees. In response, unions and other groups organized protests inside and around the state capitol. The bill was passed into law and became effective as of June 29, 2011. Public employees exempt from the changes to the collective bargaining law include firefighters and most law enforcement workers. The bill was ruled to be constitutional by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July 2014, after three years of litigation.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
On February 14, 2011, Republican Governor Scott Walker introduced the legislation to the state legislature. Initially, legislative Democrats and union leaders offered to accept the increased cost of benefits but not the limited bargaining rights, which Walker subsequently rejected. A few days later, to prevent passage of the bill, all fourteen Democratic members of the Wisconsin State Senate fled Wisconsin and traveled to Illinois to delay a vote on the bill. With only 19 Republican members, the Senate would not have the 20 Senators required for a quorum to vote on the bill, since it was a fiscal bill.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
On February 20, all 14 Senate Democrats announced they would indefinitely remain in Illinois. Walker and the State Senate's Republicans tried to get the absentee Democrats to return. In late February, the Governor threatened to lay off state workers as the deadline to restructure the state's debt approached, but the deadline passed without incident. State Senate Majority Leader, Scott Fitzgerald, stripped Democratic staffers of their access to the copy machines if their representatives were absent without leave for two days or more, forcing staffers for the 14 legislators on the run to pay out of pocket for printing and photocopying. Senators could not receive their salary via direct deposit if they are absent for two days or more, which would have forced them to collect their pay checks in person, which none could do until they all returned from Illinois after the legislation was signed.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
In early March, Senate Republicans voted to fine absent members $100 per day of absence. Wisconsin Senate Republicans ordered the arrest of those senators who had fled the state for "contempt and disorderly behavior", authorizing the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to seek help from law enforcement officers and to use force to return the senators to the Capitol. However, Wisconsin State Patrol officers could not cross state lines into Illinois.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
Assembly Republicans began procedures to move the bill to a vote on February 22. Hundreds of constituents had signed up to give testimony while Democrats submitted dozens of amendments and conducted speeches, all which delayed the vote. On February 25, following sixty hours of debate, the final amendments had been defeated, and the Republican leadership of the Wisconsin State Assembly cut off debate as well as the public hearing and moved to pass the budget repair bill. The vote was 51 in favor and 17 opposed, with 28 not voting.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
In March, Walker offered a compromise to keep certain collective bargaining rights in place for state workers. Workers would be able to continue bargaining over their salaries with no limit. Collective bargaining would also stay in place for mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size for teachers. The Democratic Senators rejected the proposals as an inadequate compromise. The day after Democrats rejected Walker's compromise, Republicans held a joint Assembly-Senate committee meeting to discuss quorum requirements.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money; however, by removing parts of the bill related to money, they had discovered a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats. After the meeting, the Senate passed the legislation 18-1. The next day, the Wisconsin Assembly passed the collective bargaining bill with a vote of 53–42.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legislative history
On March 11, Governor Walker signed the bill and put out a statement rescinding layoff notices for 1,500 public workers. The next day, the fourteen absentee Democratic senators returned.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legal challenges
In response, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk sued the state on grounds that the bill was unconstitutionally passed because the budget repair bill contained fiscal provisions. Judge Amy Smith recused herself from hearing the case, which was instead heard by Judge Maryann Sumi. On March 16, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed a second suit against the state on similar grounds.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legal challenges
On March 18, 2011, Judge Sumi issued a stay on the bill because it had been passed without the required 24 hours notice to inform the public of the meeting. Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen then announced he was appealing the ruling. Despite this, on March 25, the Legislative Reference Bureau bypassed the Secretary of State's office and published the collective bargaining law, and Republicans declared it law, which they would enforce.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legal challenges
On March 29, Judge Sumi reiterated her judgment that the bill had not become law regardless of the entity that published it, and public officials who attempted to enforce it risked legal sanctions. On June 14, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled Sumi, declaring that the law was passed legally and that Sumi had overstepped her jurisdiction.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legal challenges
On March 30, 2012, a federal court struck down parts of the collective bargaining legislation, ruling that the state cannot prevent public employee unions from automatically collecting dues and cannot require that they recertify annually. However, Wisconsin Attorney General Van Hollen sued, and a federal court of appeals overturned the ruling on January 18, 2013.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legal challenges
On September 14, 2012, Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled that a section of the budget repair bill was unconstitutional, leaving the law in force for state workers but not for city, county and school workers. Governor Walker promised to appeal the decision. Under the repair bill, state and local governments could not bargaining with their workers over anything besides a cost-of-living salary adjustment, including health benefits, pensions, workplace safety and other work rules. The ruling restored local unions' ability to reach fair share deals that require all workers within a given bargaining unit to pay union dues, even if they choose not to join.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Legal challenges
The ruling appeared to strike down for local workers a requirement that they pay half of the contribution to their pensions and for workers within the state of Wisconsin health insurance system, pay at least 12% of their premiums. Those cost savings had been crucial for local governments and school districts to deal with the more than $1 billion in cuts in state aid over two years that Walker and GOP lawmakers passed last year to close a state budget hole. The Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin heard Governor Walker's appeal (# 2012AP002067) of Judge Colas' ruling in Madison Teachers, Inc. v. Scott Walker on November 11, 2013. It upheld Act 10 on July 31, 2014.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, District and municipal savings
The results have been mixed for school districts that had long-term labor contracts in place, how much they already were charging employees for health insurance, their enrollment trends, their fiscal situation, and local political factors. Act 10 allowed districts to re-open union contracts to take advantage of the tools available in the act if the union membership chose to do so up to three months after the bill was signed into law.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Reductions in state aid
The budget repair law reduced state aid to K-12 school districts by about $900 million over the next two years. 410 of Wisconsin's 424 districts was projected to receive about 10 percent less aid than the previous year. The biggest losses in dollar amounts was predicted to occur in the Milwaukee, Racine and Green Bay districts; Milwaukee was projected to lose $54.6 million, Racine $13.1 million, and Green Bay $8.8 million. A complex formula based on property values, student enrollment and other factors computes state aid to schools.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Reductions in state aid
Property-poor districts get more aid than property-rich districts because they have lower property taxes. A provision in the budget repair law restricts the options of what districts can collect in property taxes and other revenue by requiring a referendum to force them to go to the citizens of the district before replacing their losses in state aid. In Milwaukee, district officials announced they have eliminated 514 vacant positions and laid off almost 520 employees, including 354 teachers, mostly from elementary schools, which will result in larger class sizes.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Reductions in state aid
The Milwaukee School Board asked its teachers' union for a side agreement requiring teachers to contribute 5.8% of their pay toward pensions, as the union contract extended through 2013. This concession would have saved about $20 million and 200 jobs, but the union refused it.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Reductions in state aid
The Racine district has saved about $18 million from a wage freeze and larger employee contributions to pensions and health care, but the loss of state aid required the elimination of 125 positions (although a larger than usual number of retirements and resignations, as well as soon-to-be eliminated vacant positions meant the district actually laid off 60) and the closing of all but one swimming pool for the summer.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Reductions in state aid
Green Bay district froze wages and required greater employee contributions to pensions and health care, but the district stopped filling vacancies and may have to combine elementary grades into single classrooms. Almost 70% of state school districts will be eligible for special adjustment aid, due to the decrease in the state's share of support. The special adjustment aid intends to provide school districts with 90% of the state general aid from the previous year.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Effect on unions
Public employee union membership dropped significantly after the law passed, with AFSCME reporting a drop from 62,818 in 2011 to 28,745 in February 2012. In some cases, the union removed union members after they declined to have the union collect dues.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Effect on unions
Since teachers' unions could no longer automatically deduct dues from teachers' paychecks, unions resort to methods, including using a combination of meetings, emails, phone calls and home visits to have teachers signed up for dues collection. Some school districts primarily sign members up for electronic funds transfers so they can deduct money monthly. An IRS filing available shows that The Wisconsin Education Association Council collected about $23.5 million in membership dues in fiscal year 2009 from its approximately 98,000 members.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Effect on unions
Most of the membership dues pay salaries and benefits. The organization employed 151 people and paid them $14,382,812 with an average compensation total of $95,250 per employee. This figure includes not only professional staff, but also lost wages paid to union bargaining team members, officers, and delegates to conventions. The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), announced that it would lay off about 40% of its workforce. The layoffs and budget cuts were based on a projected loss of revenue as a result of the budget repair legislation.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Effect on unions
The UW-Madison teaching assistant union, which was at the forefront of the protests against the new budget repair law, voted not to recertify their union in August 2011 in protest over the law's recertification procedures. Union leaders for state and local government workers said they also are leaning toward not recertifying. The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the state's largest teachers union, is the only state union to date that has indicated it plans to seek official union status with the state. The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) announced it would allow local union affiliates to possibly drop certification and that the agency would accept whatever the local unions chose.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Effect on unions
These issues will be re-determined after the State's appeal of Judge Colas's decision that part of the repair bill is unconstitutional (see above) has been ruled on by the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin, which calendared those appeal hearings for November 11, 2013.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, "Double dipping" controversy
According to a report by radio talk show host Mark Belling, Tom Maki, the Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, retired in March 2011 due to the reforms proposed in the budget repair legislation. In April 2011, the Vice Chancellor was re-hired without a search and screen process. He returned to his previous salary of $131,000. This permits him to collect both his state pension payments and his salary. State Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater), Chairman of the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee, expressed outrage at the report that the Vice Chancellor is being allowed to "double dip" by retiring and then being re-hired for his position.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, "Double dipping" controversy
Nass announced he would cancel a public hearing on a bill supported by UW-Green Bay that would allow it and two other campuses to adopt a differential tuition system despite the current tuition cap. He has said he wants to determine if any state laws and UW System hiring rules were violated in this arrangement between the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor Thomas Harden as well as a request that the UW System conduct a review of all campuses to determine how many of these arrangements have been authorized since February. State law prohibits agencies from making an arrangement to rehire someone who is planning to retire before that person leaves.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, "Double dipping" controversy
About 1,100 retirees were rehired in 2011. Maki refused to comment and resigned in disgrace from the vice chancellorship in December 2011. In October 2011, it was discovered that another UW-Green Bay administrator (Timothy Sewall) retired in March and returned to his $110,000-a-year position a month later, collecting both his salary and about $44,000 in annual retirement payments.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Other opinions and reactions
One proposal sought to diminish legislative oversight of the implementation of, and eligibility requirements for, state Medicaid programs. A clause that would have allowed the state to sell up to 37 heating and cooling plants across the state without requiring competitive bids generated controversy. After certain journalists expressed concerns that this provision could be part of a larger plan to sell state assets at bargain prices to business interests controlled by Charles and David Koch, who supported Walker's bid for governor. Koch Industries issued a statement denying any interest in purchasing any state owned power plants in Wisconsin. Generating controversy also was a proposal, backed by University of Wisconsin Chancellor Carolyn Martin and promoted as the , to separate the flagship University of Wisconsin–Madison campus from the rest of the University of Wisconsin System.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, 2014
On August 1, 2014, it was reported in The New York Post ("Wis. gov wins union battle") that the "Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday [July 31, 2014] upheld the 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most [Wisconsin] public workers ... [ the] 5-2 ruling upholds Walker's signature policy achievement in its entirety and is a major victory for the potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, who is seeking re-election this year.


2011 Wisconsin Act 10, Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, 2014
The ruling also marks the end of the three-year legal fight over the law, which prohibits public-employee unions from collectively bargaining for anything beyond wage increases based on inflation. A federal appeals court twice upheld the law as constitutional. ' No matter the limitations or 'burdens' a legislative enactment places on the collective-bargaining process, collective bargaining remains a creation of legislative grace and not constitutional obligation", Justice Michael Gableman wrote.'"


2011 Wisconsin Act 23
The 2011 Wisconsin Act 23 established a requirement for nearly all voters to present approved photo identification to cast a ballot. It was one of many new voter ID laws in the United States. Act 23 was developed by Republican Governor Scott Walker and the Republican controlled Wisconsin Legislature during a walkout by Democratic lawmakers as part of the 2011 Wisconsin protests.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Approved forms of identification
Section 1 of Act 23 specifies that only the following forms of photo identification are acceptable:


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Implementation
In July 2011, the Associated Press reported that the Scott Walker administration was planning to close some DMV locations that could issue identification under the voter ID law and increase the hours that other DMVs were available. The changes were made to comply with a requirement that every county have a DMV location open at least 20 hours per week. A Democratic legislator said that the closures would occur in primarily Democratic areas, while the expansions would occur in primarily Republican areas. Two weeks later, the plan was replaced with a plan to maintain all existing DMV offices and create four new ones.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Implementation
In July 2011, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) sent an internal memo instructing employees that an applicant for an ID card must pay the $28 fee unless the applicant requests that the ID be issued for free. In September 2011, the DMV began posting signs instructing applicants seeking free "ID cards used for voting" to check the appropriate box on the application form.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Implementation
As initially implemented, an applicant for an identification card was required to present a birth certificate. The Division of Motor Vehicles maintains form MV3002, which allows identification cards to be issued without a birth certificate. The form is not mentioned in publicly available materials published by the DMV, and a high-ranking DMV official was unfamiliar with the form. On September 2014, a procedure was implemented where applicants could supply birth information that would be verified with the State Vital Records Office for free.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
On December 13, 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit Frank v. Walker in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin seeking to block the Act as a violation of the U.S. Constitution. In April 2014, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee issued a permanent injunction against the Act, ruling that the Act was unconstitutional as well as a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
Adelman said that it was not shown that voters without acceptable identification could obtain it under the Act and that the state failed to show evidence of recent voter impersonation fraud. Adelman's ruling marked that first time that a voter ID law had been found to violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Adelman found a violation of Section 2 on the basis of racial minorities not only being more likely to lack acceptable identification, but also facing additional barriers to acquiring acceptable identification.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
In a separate litigation, on July 31, 2014, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Act by giving the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles discretion to waive fees, over dissent by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, and Justices N. Patrick Crooks and Ann Walsh Bradley.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
The state appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and asked for a stay of Judge Adelman's injunction. On September 12, 2014, the same day oral arguments were held, a Seventh Circuit panel stayed Adelman's injunction, allowing the Act to immediately take effect, and Wisconsin officials announced plans to implement the Act for the November 2014 election. Judge Frank H. Easterbrook was joined by Judges Diane S. Sykes and John Daniel Tinder. On October 10, an equally divided circuit voted 5-5 to deny rehearing en banc, over written dissent by Judge Richard Posner.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
On October 9, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the stay imposed by the Seventh Circuit, and thus temporarily barred the state from implementing the voter id law, due tothe proximity of the upcoming general election and the fact that absentee ballots were sent out without any notation that proof of photo identification must be submitted, over written dissent by Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
On March 23, 2015, the Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs' petition for a writ of certiorari.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
On October 19, 2015, Judge Adelman, entered the order denying the injunction. However, on April 12, 2016, the Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded, with Judge Easterbrook finding the plaintiffs could now challenge the law as it had been applied individually. On July 19, Judge Adelman found that the state was applying the Act unconstitutionally, ordering the state to allow anyone who makes an affidavit of their eligibility to vote in the November general election.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
On July 29, 2016, in a separate trial in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson also found the Act was applied unconstitutionally but ordering more limited oversight. On August 10, 2016, the Seventh Circuit stayed Judge Adelman’s injunction, leaving in place Judge Peterson’s order.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
Judge Peterson held a new hearing after reading news reports in The Nation magazine that the state was ignoring his order. On October 13, 2016, Judge Peterson entered an order expanding his oversight but still not permitting voters to swear eligibility by affidavit. The United States presidential election in Wisconsin, 2016 was held on November 8. After a long appellate process, Judge Peterson's ruling was reversed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2020.


2011 Wisconsin Act 23, Legal challenges
In unrelated litigation, on November 21, the Seventh Circuit found Wisconsin Legislature’s 2011 redistricting plan was an unconstitutionally partisan gerrymandering, the first successful claim of partisan gerrymandering in the United States in thirty years. This ruling was reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States in June 2019; the court held that the question of partisan gerrymandering was a political question that was beyond the reach of the federal courts.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers, led by sixth-year head coach Bret Bielema, are members of the Leaders Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium. They finished the season 11–3, 7–2 in Big Ten play to be Leaders Division co–champions with Penn State.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team
Due to their head-to-head win over Penn State, the Badgers represented the division in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game where they defeated Legends Division champion Michigan State 42–39 to become Big Ten Champions. They were invited to the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive year where they were defeated by Oregon 38–45.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, UNLV
Wisconsin kicked off the 2011 season with a bang, recording 499 yards of total offense en route to a 51–17 pounding of visiting UNLV. The Badgers, and in particular, QB Russell Wilson, received the opening kick and drove 65 yards in 3:11, taking a 7–0 lead on Wilson's first touchdown pass as a Wisconsin Badger to RB Montee Ball. The Badgers forced a three and out on UNLV's first possession, and WR Jared Abbrederis returned the UNLV punt 30 yards to put the Badgers in excellent field position.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, UNLV
Wilson and the Badgers capitalized; as Montee Ball broke several tackles on a 20-yard touchdown run. With K Philip Welch sidelined to a leg injury, backup K Kyle French missed the PAT, leaving Wisconsin ahead only 13–0. But that wouldn't be all for Wisconsin in the first quarter: after UNLV missed a 34-yard field goal, Wisconsin drove 80 yards in 8 plays and extended their advantage to 20–0 on a 1-yard touchdown run by James White.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, UNLV
The Rebels were able to drive to Wisconsin's 35, but Nolan Kohorst missed his second field goal attempt of the game wide left from 52 yards. The Badgers wasted no time in capitalizing; Wilson dropped a short pass to Montee Ball, who proceeded to take it 63 yards to the UNLV three-yard line. Two plays later, Ball scored his third touchdown of the first half from a yard out, giving Wisconsin a 27–0 lead. But the pesky Rebels answered with a 13-play, 64-yard drive to the Wisconsin 20, scoring for the first time after Kohorst banked in a 37-yard attempt off the left upright.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, UNLV
Whatever hopes this may have raised on the UNLV sideline were quickly squashed as Wisconsin answered with a 3 play, 56-yard drive. Russell Wilson himself scored on a 46-yard touchdown run in which he accelerated past several defenders and scampered almost untouched into the endzone. UNLV managed to lose 8 yards and go three and out on their next drive, and after UNLV's punt gave Wisconsin excellent field position, the Badgers tacked on another field goal to take a 37–3 lead at the half.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, UNLV
The Badgers then scored on their first two possessions of the second half. An 8-yard pass to tight end Jacob Pedersen from Wilson and a 1-yard touchdown run by Ball (his 4th touchdown of the game). That would spell the end for the starting offense for the Badgers as they scored on all 8 possessions they had. UNLV would then score a touchdown with 2:53 left in the 3rd quarter and the scoring was closed out by UNLV with a touchdown pass with 11:41 remaining in the game.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Oregon State
The Badgers posted their first shutout since a 37–0 victory on October 31, 2009 against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Badgers out gained the Beavers 397 yards (208 rushing, 189 passing) to 284 yards (23 rushing, 261 passing). The scoring got started at the 8:35 mark in the first quarter with a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Pedersen from Wilson. The extra point was good by kicker Kyle French who is still filling in for the injured Philip Welch. With 7:42 in the 2nd quarter, Wilson connected with Nick Toon on a 10-yard TD pass.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Oregon State
Then with 27 seconds left in the half, Wilson hit Pedersen again with a 6-yard TD pass. The Badgers led 21–0 at the half. Oregon State had done a nice job containing the Badgers powerful rushing attack but Wilson was able to pick apart the Beavers secondary. The Badgers got back on track with the running game in the second half and at the 12:09 mark in the 3rd quarter, Montee Ball scored on a 19-yard touchdown run. The scoring was closed out in the 4th quarter at 14:55 with a 1-yard TD run by Ball.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Northern Illinois
It was an unwelcome "homecoming" for the Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren, who spent the last five years in Madison as the Badgers' defensive coordinator. The Badgers rolled up 621 yards of offense (355 passing and 266 rushing) at Soldier Field. The scoring started early by the Badgers in the 1st quarter at the 12:55 mark with a 12-yard TD pass to Nick Toon from Russell Wilson. Northern Illinois did answer with a 3-yard TD run by Jasmin Hopkins with less than 2 minutes to go in the first quarter.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Northern Illinois
Wisconsin did not waste anytime after the Huskies touchdown as they needed only 3 plays to go 49 yards and score on a 16-yard pass to Toon from Wilson. In the second quarter, Wisconsin scored twice. First was a Montee Ball 1-yard TD run and then a 20-yard TD run by James White. The Badgers lead the Huskies 28–7 at the half. The 3rd quarter was much of the same from the Badgers. Another 1-yard TD run by Ball and a 9-yard TD pass to Jacob Pedersen from Wilson.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Northern Illinois
The only blemish for the Badgers was an interception by Russell Wilson in the 3rd quarter, the first turnover of the season for Wisconsin. The scoring was closed out in the 4th quarter with all the Badger backups in the game, backup quarterback Joe Brennan scored on a 6-yard TD run for his first touchdown of his young career. Russell Wilson passed for 347 yards which was the seventh best total in UW history. Wilson's 384 total yards in the game, was the fifth highest total offense in school annals. The defense was led by sophomore linebacker Chris Borland who totaled a game high 11 tackles, including a pair of tackles-for-loss. Montee Ball has now scored in nine straight games, and has 22 touchdowns since last October 23.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, South Dakota
The Badgers dominated South Dakota from the FCS in their final "tune-up" game before the start of the Big Ten season. Wisconsin rolled up 612 yards on offense, 345 through the air and 267 on the ground, and only yielded 173 offensive yards to the Coyotes (124 rushing and 49 passing).


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, South Dakota
The Badgers started a bit slow on offense but got on the board first with a 5-yard touchdown run by Montee Ball. The Badgers got their first defensive turnover of the season with an interception by safety Shelton Johnson and then their second on the next Coyotes drive with another interception this time by linebacker Chris Borland. The Badgers managed only three points off the two turnovers, a 25-yard field goal by Kyle French. French also missed a 50-yard attempt.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, South Dakota
The Coyotes drove to a first and goal but were then forced to settle on a 24-yard field goal by Kevin Robb to cut the Wisconsin lead to 10–3 with 6:34 left in the second quarter. Then Wisconsin took over, scoring three touchdowns in the final six minutes of the half. First, it was James White on a 49-yard touchdown run. Then, Nick Toon caught a short pass from Russell Wilson and tip-toed down the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown. The Badgers got the ball back in the final two minutes of the half, and facing a third-and-goal on the 2, Wilson found Toon in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Wisconsin went into the half leading 31–3.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, South Dakota
The Badgers then scored twice in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for South Dakota. The first score of the third quarter was a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jared Abbrederis from Wilson. Then with 5:57 left in the third quarter, Montee Ball scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run. In the fourth quarter, most of the Badgers starters were done for the day. Wisconsin scored again at the beginning of the 4th quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run by a true freshman running back Melvin Gordon, his first career touchdown.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, South Dakota
After an interception was thrown by the Badgers backup QB Joe Brennen, South Dakota scored their first and only touchdown of the game, a 4-yard pass from the Coyotes backup QB. The scoring was closed out by Wisconsin on a 41-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman running back Jeffrey Lewis, also his first career touchdown.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, South Dakota
After the game, an unidentified Badgers player was involved in an incident at a local bar which he entered threatening to "whoop on everyone" for not giving him respect. He fled the bar after a physical altercation with a South Dakota fan.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Nebraska
Nebraska's Big Ten debut was very unwelcoming. #7 Wisconsin out gained #8 Nebraska, 486 yards (255 passing, 231 rushing) to 335 yards (176 passing, 159 rushing). The Badgers also held a commanding advantage in the time of possession battle, 35:15 to 24:45. Penalties and turnovers doomed Nebraska during this game. The Cornhuskers committed 9 penalties which cost them 80 yards. Taylor Martinez also threw 3 interceptions which the Badgers capitalized by scoring 21 points on all three of the turnovers. Between Russell Wilson's ability to pass and elude passing rushers, and Montee Ball running the ball, the Cornhuskers could not stop the potent Badgers attack. The Badgers also matched largest-ever margin of victory over a top-10 team (31 points).


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Nebraska
Nebraska struck first on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Taylor Martinez. The Badgers answered back with a 1-yard touchdown of their own by running back Montee Ball. In the second quarter, the Cornhuskers took the lead back with a 1-yard touchdown run by Rex Burkhead. Again, the Badgers drove right down on Nebraska's defense and scored on a Ball 3-yard touchdown run. Kicker Philip Welch playing is his first game of the season, had the extra point blocked by Jared Crick of Nebraska. The Huskers led 14–13 about halfway through the 2nd quarter.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Nebraska
At that point the Badgers defense tightened up and forced two straight turnovers on back-to-back possessions. Taylor Martinez threw an INT to Badgers linebacker Mike Taylor. The Badgers took advantage and scored on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Jared Abbrederis. On the very next drive for Nebraska, Martinez again threw and interception to The Badgers safety Aaron Henry. Again the Badgers turned the turnover into 7 points with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Nick Toon from Wilson. Nebraska's kicker Brett Maher then attempted a 50-yard field right before halftime but missed wide right. The Badgers led at the half 27–14.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Nebraska
Nebraska started with the ball to start the second half. The first offensive play of the half, Martinez again threw an interception to the Badgers cornerback Antonio Fenelus. Wisconsin cashed in again on the turnover with a 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Russell Wilson. Any chance of a comeback for the Cornhuskers was all but gone. The Badgers scored again later in the 3rd quarter with a 4-yard touchdown by Ball. Nebraska would close out their scoring early in the 4th quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Brett Maher.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Nebraska
The Badgers were not done as Montee Ball scored his 4th touchdown of the game on a 14-yard run. With 5 minutes left in the game, Nebraska tried to make the score a little more respectable as they drove all the way to the Badgers 1-yard line with the clock running out. With the game well out of reach, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini called a timeout with 12 seconds left to try to score. The Badgers defense stuffed quarterback Taylor Martinez keeping him out of the end zone and keeping the score a very dominating victory for the Badgers, 48–17.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Nebraska
Following this victory the Badgers moved up to #4 on the AP Poll and #5 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, making them possible contenders for the BCS national championship game. The last time the Badgers were ranked this highly in the AP Poll was after their victories in the 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowls and have not been ranked higher since the season-ending #2 ranking in 1962 (the highest the Badgers have ever been ranked in the AP poll is #1 for just one week during the 1952 season).


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Indiana
Number four Wisconsin routs Indiana for the second straight season. Last year it was an 83–20 debacle and this year the Badgers roll 59–7. The Badgers outgained the Hoosiers 524 yards (332 rushing, 192 passing) to 287 (223 rushing, 64 passing). Indiana turned the ball over three times, two interceptions and a fumble, which hurt the Hoosiers chance of keeping the game close.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Indiana
The game started with the Hoosiers forcing the Badgers to punt on their first series of the game. Indiana started strong on offense using a no-huddle and a full-house backfield look that kept the Badgers' defense off balance. The drive stalled near midfield for Indiana and the Badgers went to work. After a 46-yard catch-and-run by Montee Ball, Ball finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, for a Wisconsin 7–0 lead.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Indiana
Things then got ugly for Indiana's special teams, as punter Adam Pines tried a rugby style punt and kicked the ball too low and right into the back of his own lineman. The ball bounced straight up in the air and was caught by Wisconsin's fullback Bradie Ewing. Indiana's punter was credited with a 1-yard put and the Badgers took over at Indiana's 26-yard line. Two plays later, running back James White faked out two Hoosiers defenders on his way to a 15-yard touchdown run and a 14–0 Wisconsin lead at the end of the first quarter.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Indiana
After a failed fourth-down conversion by the Hoosiers, the Badgers answered quickly. Running back Montee Ball took a pitch to the right and turned a threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Russell Wilson (the first touchdown catch of his career) who was all alone on the leftside of the field. After an interception by cornerback Antonio Fenelus in the end zone, the Badgers drove down and scored on a 35-yard touchdown run by Ball. The Hoosiers finally got on the board, thanks to a 67-yard touchdown run by running back Stephen Houston.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Indiana
Wisconsin again had no problem marching down the field but stalled and was forced to kin a 38-yard field goal by Philip Welch. After an interception by safety Aaron Henry, the Badgers would score once more before halftime. After a 25-yard scramble by Wilson, Wilson then connected with tight end Jacob Pedersen on a 3-yard pass and the Badgers led 38–7 at the half.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Indiana
The second half started with both teams defenses' forcing punts. Then with about 4:30 left in the third quarter, wide receiver Jared Abbrederis returned his first career punt 60 yards for a touchdown. After another Indiana punt, Montee ball went untouched on a 54-yard touchdown run. Wisconsin then pulled almost all of their starting offense and defensive players at the start of the fourth quarter. The scoring was closed out at the 9:17 mark of the 4th quarter when Indiana's quarterback, Edward Wright-Baker, fumbled in the end zone and was recovered for a touchdown by backup linebacker Derek Landish. This was Wisconsin's 13th-straight regular-season win.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Michigan State
Michigan State handed Wisconsin their first loss of the season despite being out gained by the Badgers 443 (223 passing, 220 rushing) to 399 (290 passing, 109 rushing). The key stat for the game was Michigan State did not commit a penalty. The Spartans also controlled the time of possession which is the first time this season that the Badgers have not won the TOP battle.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Michigan State
The Badgers started off strong in the first quarter striking first on their opening drive of the game with a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Pedersen from Russell Wilson. After a Spartans fumble, the Badgers scored again on a 9-yard touchdown run by running back Montee Ball. The second quarter was all Michigan State. After a Spartans punt pinned the Badgers at their own 5-yard line, quarterback Russell Wilson was forced to throw the ball away in his own end zone. Wilson was called for intentional grounding and a safety that made the score 14–2.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Michigan State
After the free kick, the Spartans scored on a 34-yard reverse to wide receiver Keshawn Martin. The Badgers responded with an impressive drive but stalled and ended up settling for a 30-yard field goal attempt. The Spartans blocked the kick and responded with an 80-yard drive capitalized with a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver B.J. Cunningham from quarterback Kirk Cousins on fourth-and-2. That gave Michigan State a 16–14 lead with 1:20 left in the half. The Spartans weren't done. They used timeouts to stop the clock and force the Badgers to punt. The Spartans blocked the punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. Michigan State went into the half leading 23–14.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Michigan State
The only scoring in the third quarter was a 33-yard field goal Badgers kicker Philip Welch. Then in the fourth quarter, Michigan State pulled farther ahead with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Keshawn Martin from Cousins. The Spartans converted the 2-point conversion with a pass to Cunningham from Cousins. With the game almost out of reach, the Badgers came down and scored on a Russell Wilson 22-yard touchdown run. The Badgers got the ball back and scored on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ball from Wilson that tied the game at 31–31 with 1:26 left.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Michigan State
The Spartans got the ball back and on first down, Cousins was flushed from the pocket and lost a handle of the ball but it was recovered by the Spartans. Wisconsin called a timeout with 42 seconds left and second-and 20 from the Spartans own 24-yard line. After a 12-yard completion from Cousins to Cunningham, both coaches were waiting to see who or if anyone was going to call a time out. The Badgers coach Bret Bielema called a timeout again thinking they would get the ball back if they can stop the Spartans on third down.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Michigan State
The Spartans picked up the first down on an 11-yard shovel pass for Martin. Michigan State's last drive appeared to stall at the Wisconsin 44, but the Spartans had time for one more play. Cousins was able to buy enough time for his receivers to get down field for a final Hail Mary pass. The ball bounced off Cunningham's helmet and into Keith Nichol's hands at the 1-yard line. Badgers linebacker Mike Taylor was fighting to keep Nichol from getting into the endzone but Nichol made one final lunge to try to get the ball across the goal line. The officials ruled that the ball was short and marked at the half-yard line. After review, it was determined that Nichol had crossed the goal line and it was a touchdown. This was the second year in a row that Michigan State handed Wisconsin their first loss of the season.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Ohio State
For the second week in a row, the Badgers lost on a long pass in the final 30 seconds of the game. For the first time this season, the Badgers were out gained. Wisconsin gained 342 total yards on offense (253 passing, 89 rushing) while Ohio State gained a total of 357 yards (89 passing, 268 rushing). For the second week in a row the Badgers lost the time of possession battle, 24:12 to 35:48.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Ohio State
The first half was all defense on both sides. The Badgers struck first in the first quarter with a 22-yard touchdown pass to running back Montee Ball from Russell Wilson. In the second quarter, Ohio State kicker Drew Basil, kicked a 39-yard field goal the hit off the right upright and went in. The Badgers led 7–3 at the half.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Ohio State
In the second half, both teams offense's turned it up. Ohio State started the second half with the ball and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Braxton Miller. The Buckeyes scored again on a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Jordan Hall. The Badgers answered with a 1-yard touchdown run by Montee Ball to make it a 17–14 Ohio State led at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter started with a 22-yard field goal by Ohio State's Drew Basil.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Ohio State
Then with a 4:30 left in the game, Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller scored on a 44-yard touchdown run which seemed to close the door on the Badgers. Wisconsin never let down as they scored two quick touchdowns. The first was a 17-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to wide receiver Jared Abbrederis and then a 49-yard touchdown pass to Abbrederis from Wilson. The Badgers took a 29–26 lead with 1:18 to go in the game. The Buckeyes drove down to the Badgers 40-yard line and with about 30 seconds to go.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Ohio State
It looked like they were trying to get into field goal range to try to tie the game. The next play Ohio State quarterback scrambled around and it looked like he was going to run but at the last second just before he crossed the line of scrimmage, Miller threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devin Smith in the back of the end zone. The Badgers only had 20 seconds left as they got the Ohio State's 45-yard line and took three shots at the end zone but failed.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Purdue
The Badgers got back on track at home after two heartbreaking losses on the road. Wisconsin dominated the line of scrimmage and the powerful Badger offensive line imposed their will on the Purdue defense. Wisconsin racked up 605 total yards on offense (364 rushing, 241 passing) compared to Purdue's 284 total offensive yards (120 rushing, 164 passing). The Badgers also got back to what they do best, which is controlling the time of possession battle. The Badgers controlled the clock for 36:43 compared to Boilermakers 23:17. Purdue also threw two interceptions which turned into 14 Badger points.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Purdue
Wisconsin started the game with the ball and the first play from scrimmage, running back Montee Ball took the ball right up the middle for a 44-yard gain. A few plays later, quarterback Russell Wilson connected with tight end Jacob Pedersen on a 1-yard touchdown pass. The Boilermakers came right back after a 49-yard kickoff return. Purdue quarterback Caleb TerBush hit tight end Crosby Wright for a 30-yard touchdown pass, which tied the game at seven.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Purdue
Wisconsin took a 14–7 lead in the first quarter, as Wilson's 66-yard strike to wide-open receiver Jeff Duckworth which helped set up Wilson's 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jared Abbrederis. Special teams problems struck again, as Wisconsin allowed a 74-yard kickoff return. The Badgers held the Boilermakers to a 25-yard field goal by kicker Carson Wiggs, cutting Wisconsin's lead to 14–10 with 1:13 left in the first quarter. Montee Ball got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter with an easy 1-yard touchdown run.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Purdue
After an interception by Badger linebacker Mike Taylor, Russell Wilson scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. The Badgers got the ball back a few minutes later and Montee Ball found the end zone again on a 3-yard touchdown run. Purdue then put a long drive together before halftime and wide receiver Justin Siller scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. But Wisconsin had just enough time for a drive that set up a 52-yard field goal by kicker Philip Welch and took a 38–17 lead into the half.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Purdue
The third quarter started with Purdue getting the ball and quickly punting it back to Wisconsin. Montee Ball the scored on a 29-yard touchdown run which was his 24th total touchdown of the season tying former Badger Brian Calhoun for most total touchdowns in a single season in Badgers history. After an interception by Badger linebacker Chris Borland deep in Purdue territory, running back James White scored on a 5-yard run right up the middle. Most of the Badgers starters were done for the day by the time the fourth quarter started.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Purdue
James White scored again for the Badgers on a 1-yard touchdown run, the Badgers 6th rushing touchdown of the game. The scoring was closed out at the 5:02 mark of the fourth quarter when Badger backup kicker, Kyle French, kicked a 29-yard field goal. Montee Ball, who leads the nation in total touchdowns with 24, had a career-high 223 rushing yards while only playing 2 and a half quarters.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Minnesota
Wisconsin retains Paul Bunyan's Axe for the 8th straight year with a dominating performance on the road against Minnesota. The Badgers, offensively out gained the Golden Gophers 461 yards (283 rushing, 178 passing) to 156 yards (105 rushing, 51 passing) for Minnesota. Again, Wisconsin controlled the time of possession battle by controlling the ball for almost ten minutes more than Minnesota. The Badgers also moved the chains 20 more times than the Golden Gophers.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Minnesota
The Badgers started the game with the ball and chewed up more than half of the first quarter on the opening drive of the game. The drive was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass to running back Montee Ball from quarterback Russell Wilson. After the Badger defense forced the Golden Gophers to punt on their opening drive, Montee Ball scored a few plays later on a 14-yard touchdown run. The yardage at the end of the first quarter was 189 for Wisconsin and minus-1 for Minnesota.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Minnesota
The Badgers scored within the first minute of the second quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Nick Toon from Wilson. Then Golden Gophers put their best drive of the game together as they drove down inside the Badgers 10-yard line but stalled and were about to attempt a chip-shot field goal. Then, Minnesota's holder pitched the ball to their kicker, Jordan Wettstein who broke a tackle and scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run. Wettstein then missed the extra point to make the score 21–6. The Badgers scored with less than a minute before halftime on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Nick Toon from Russell Wilson putting the Badgers up 28–6 at the half.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Minnesota
The Golden Gophers opened the second half with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Duane Bennett. The Badgers answered back with a long sustaining drive and scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Pedersen from Russell Wilson, his fourth touchdown pass of the game. The scoring was capped off in the fourth quarter by a 1-yard touchdown run by Montee Ball.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Minnesota
That touchdown by Montee Ball was his 27th for the season and broke the Big Ten record for most touchdowns in a single season breaking the mark previously held by Ohio State's Pete Johnson (1975), Indiana's Anthony Thompson (1988) and Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter (1994). Russell Wilson is now the Badgers single season record holder for most touchdown passes (25) passing John Stocco.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Illinois
The Badgers pulled out a hard fought victory against the Illini in Champaign. It was a tale of two halves as the Illini owned the first half and the Badgers took over in the second half. Illinois offensively outgained the Badgers 301 yards (149 rushing, 151 passing) for the Illini to 285 yard (195 rushing, 90 passing) for the Badgers. It was only the second time this season that the Badgers had been out gained (Ohio State). Four turnovers and special teams miscues cost Illinois in this game. The Illini rotated two quarterback throughout the game, Nathan Scheelhaase and freshman Reilly O'Toole. O'Toole threw two interceptions in the second half and Scheelhaase threw one late in the fourth quarter which just about sealed the win for the Badgers.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Illinois
After both team went scoreless in the first quarter, with less than two minutes into the second quarter, the Illini struck first on a 12-yard touchdown run by running back Donovoon Young. About five minutes later, Illinois scored again on a 1-yard touchdown run by Young. The Illini led 14–0 about halfway through the second quarter. After a botched punt attempt where the Illini punter dropped the snap and was tackled at the 2-yard line, Wisconsin got on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Montee Ball. With less than three minutes until halftime, Illinois drove down and settled for a 41-yard field goal by kicker Derek Dimke. The unranked Illini who had lost four straight after winning their first six games of the season, led the Badgers 17–7 at the half.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Illinois
The Illini got the ball to start the second half and had a chance to put the game almost out of reach but Badger linebacker Chris Borland hit Illini wide receiver Darius Millines forcing a fumble that was recovered by Badger linebacker Mike Taylor. The Badgers then put together a long drive converting on a couple of fourth downs. The drive was capped on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ball from quarterback Russell Wilson.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Illinois
The Badgers next score came after another special teams mistake as Illini punt returner, Terry Hawthorne, let a put sail over his head and bounced about 30-yards and was downed at the 3-yard line for a 74-yard punt by Badgers punter Brad Nortman. His longest punt of the season. After an Illini three-and-out, the Badgers took over at Illinois 44-yard line. Two plays later, Wilson scored on 1-yard touchdown run on a naked bootleg which closed out the third quarter. The Badgers had their first led of the day, 21–17.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Illinois
The Illini opened the fourth quarter with O'Toole throwing an interception to the Badgers safety Aaron Henry. This then led to a brilliant 17-yard touchdown run by the Badgers Montee Ball, his third touchdown of the game. After the Illini drove to the Badgers 29-yard line, Illini quarterback Scheelhaase threw an interception to Badgers safety Shelton Johnson with 7:30 left in the game. The Badgers used Ball and a couple key completions by Wilson to run out the clock. The Badgers scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away with the victory.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, at Illinois
Montee Ball became only the fifth FBS player to score 30 touchdowns in a single season. Ball also rushed for a career-high 224 yards, one more yard than his previous high which he had two games earlier against Purdue.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Penn State
This game determined who would represent the Leaders Division in the first ever Big Ten Championship Game. The Badgers dominated the Nittany Lions in all phases of the game. Wisconsin almost doubled the total offensive yards of Penn State. The Badgers totaled 450 yards on offense (264 rushing, 186 passing) to the Nittany Lions 233 yards (114 rushing, 119 passing). The Badgers also forced four turnovers and held a 38:17 to 21:43 in the time of possession battle.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Penn State
Wisconsin started with the ball and moved into Penn State territory but stalled and was forced to punt. After the Badgers forced a punt on Penn State's first possession, the Badgers were flagged for running into the kicker which gave new life to the Nittany Lions' drive. Four plays later, Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, connected on a 44-yard touchdown pass to a wide open receiver, Curtis Drake. Penn State struck first but Wisconsin answered back with a 10-play, 76-yard drive that was capped with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Jared Abbrederis.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Penn State
On the next Penn State drive, McGloin threw an interception to Wisconsin safety Shelton Johnson near midfield. The Badgers then scored a few plays later on a Montee Ball 1-yard touchdown run. The Wisconsin defense would continue to dominate and force Penn State to punt. The Badgers scored again on a Montee Ball 2-yard touchdown run. Penn State would fumble the kickoff and the Wisconsin capitalized on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Nick Toon, who was wearing number 87 not his usual number 1 in tribute to his father Al Toon on senior day. The Badgers led 28–7 at halftime.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Penn State
Penn State running back Silas Redd fumbled early in the third quarter and Wisconsin recovered again near midfield. The Badgers marched down on the Nittany Lions defense and Montee Ball scored again, this time on a 9-yard touchdown run. Later in the third quarter, Montee Ball tied his career high with his fourth touchdown of the game, on an 18-yard run. The scoring was closed out by the Badgers kicker Philip Welch, when he kicked a 44-yard field goal with 10:47 left in the game.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, Penn State
With the win, Wisconsin will face the Legends Division champion Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game. Montee Ball scored four touchdowns which moves him into second place on the all-time FBS single-season touchdown list with 34. He now only trails Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders record of 39 set in 1988.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
Wisconsin and Michigan State met in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game, with the winner getting an invitation to the Rose Bowl. A high scoring game that was back and forth for most of the game. The Spartans out gained the Badgers 471 yards (190 rushing, 281 passing) to 345 yards (126 rushing, 219 passing). Wisconsin only held a ten-second advantage in the time of possession battle but what hurt Michigan State was two turnovers to Wisconsin's zero and seven penalties that cost the Spartans 50 yards.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
The game started off with both teams scoring on their opening drives. Wisconsin scored first on a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jeff Duckworth from Russell Wilson. Michigan State answered right back on an 8-yard touchdown run by running back Edwin Baker. The Badgers then answered the Spartans scoring drive with a scoring drive of their own which was capped with a 6-yard touchdown run by Montee Ball. After Michigan State fumbled the kickoff, Wisconsin scored about 30 seconds later on another Montee Ball 6-yard touchdown run. Wisconsin led 21–7 at the end of the first quarter.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
The second quarter was dominated by Michigan State as they scored 22 unanswered points. Five seconds into the second quarter, the Spartans scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver B.J. Cunningham from Kirk Cousins. Less than five minutes later, Michigan State struck again. This time wide receiver Keith Nichol caught a short pass at the Wisconsin 4-yard line and as he was being tackled out of bounds, Nichol pitched the ball to fellow wide receiver Cunningham, who ran in for the final four yards and the score.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
Cunningham got the credit for a 7-yard touchdown catch from Cousins on that play. On the extra point, the Spartans ran a fake as the holder, Brad Sontag, scored and converted the two-point conversion giving the Spartans their first led of the game 22–21. Michigan State wasn't done at the scored again with under three and a half minutes left in the half, as running back Le'Veon Bell scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. At halftime, Michigan State led 29–21.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
The second half scoring started with the Badgers scoring on a 42-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jared Abbrederis from Wilson. That cut the Spartan led to one but Michigan State would answer once again. It was Cunningham again scoring his third touchdown of the game on a 44-yard catch and run. The fourth quarter started and the Badger offense kept them in the game putting together a 7-play, 52-yard scoring drive that was capped with a 5-yard shovel pass to Ball from Wilson. The 2-point conversion pass attempt failed so the Badgers still trailed by two, 36–34.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
The Spartans next possession ate up almost five minutes on a 10-play drive but the Badger defense finally made a stand and forced a 25-yard field goal by Michigan State kicker Dan Conroy. With about 8:30 left in the game the Badgers trailed by five, 39–34. The Badgers offense never missed a beat as they put together their own clock eating drive. The Badgers had an 8-play, 64-yard scoring drive that took 4:38 off the clock. Maybe the biggest play of the game was on that drive the Badgers had a fourth-and-six at the Spartans 43-yard line.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
Wilson dropped back to pass and was almost sacked but he got away from the rush and threw the ball high up for grabs and Badger receiver Jeff Duckworth, came down with the ball for a 36-yard catch and a first-and-goal at the Spartans 7-yard line. The next play, Ball scored on a 7-yard touchdown run, his fourth touchdown of the game. Wisconsin converted the two-point attempt with a pass from Wilson to tight end Jacob Pedersen. The Badgers now led 42–39 with 3:45 left in the game.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
Michigan State got the ball but was forced to punt after a three-and-out. The Badgers took over at their own 19-yard line with 2:51 left in the game. After three Badger carries for 7-yards, the Spartans using their last two timeouts, Michigan State forced a Wisconsin punt on fourth-and-three. Wisconsin punted it away and Michigan State returner, Keshawn Martin returned the punt all the Badger 3-yard line. As the Spartans were celebrating, there was a flag during the punt. The penalty was for running into the kicker which gave the Badgers a first down and three kneel downs would end the game, Wisconsin 42 – Michigan State 39.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Regular season, vs. Michigan State (Big Ten Championship)
The win sent the Badgers to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row. There they will face the Oregon Ducks. Montee Ball's four touchdowns in the game runs his season total to 38, one shy of tying the single season record of 39 held by Barry Sanders. Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes in the game and broke the NCAA record by throwing a touchdown pass in his 37th consecutive game. Graham Harrell of Texas Tech held the previous mark (36). Wilson was given the Grange-Griffin MVP award for the game. The loss not only extended Michigan State's Rose Bowl drought, it hasn't gone since 1988, and ruined Mark Dantonio's pregame prediction. In an interview taped the Friday before the game, Dantonio told a local radio station that the Spartans would win the game and go to the Rose Bowl.


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Passing
Note: G = Games played; COMP = Completions; ATT = Attempts; COMP % = Completion percentage; YDS = Passing yards; TD = Passing touchdowns; INT = Interceptions; EFF = Passing efficiency


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Rushing
Note: G = Games played; ATT = Attempts; YDS = Yards; AVG = Average yard per carry; LG = Longest run; TD = Rushing touchdowns


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Receiving
Note: G = Games played; REC = Receptions; YDS = Yards; AVG = Average yard per catch; LG = Longest catch; TD = Receiving touchdowns


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Kick and punt returning
Note: G = Games played; PR = Punt returns; PYDS = Punt return yards; PLG = Punt return long; KR = Kick returns; KYDS = Kick return yards; KLG = Kick return long; TD = Total return touchdowns


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Kicking
Note: G = Games played; FGM = Field goals made; FGA = Field goals attempted; LG = Field goal long; XPT = Extra points made; XPT ATT = XPT attempted; TP = Total points


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Punting
Note: G = Games played; P = Punts; YDS = Yards; AVG = Average per punt; LG = Punt long; In20 = Punts inside the 20; TB = Touchbacks


2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team, 2011 stats, Defensive
Note: G = Games played; Solo = Solo tackles; Ast = Assisted tackles; Total = Total tackles; TFL-Yds = Tackles for loss-yards lost; Sack = Sacks; INT = Interceptions; PD = Passes defended; FF = Forced fumbles; FR = Forced recoveries


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections
Recall elections for nine Wisconsin state senators were held during the summer of 2011; one was held on July 19, and six on August 9, with two more held on August 16. Voters attempted to put 16 state senators up for recall, eight Democrats and eight Republicans, because of the budget bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker and circumstances surrounding it. Republicans targeted Democrats for leaving the state for three weeks to prevent the bill from receiving a vote, while Democrats targeted Republicans for voting to significantly limit public employee collective bargaining. Scholars could cite only three times in American history when more than one state legislator has been recalled at roughly the same time over the same issue.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) certified six recall petitions filed against Republican senators and three recall petitions filed against Democratic senators. Democrats needed a net gain of three seats to take control of the Senate. Republicans needed a net gain of one seat to gain a quorum-proof supermajority on fiscal spending. Of the nine recall elections, Democrats held on to all three of their challenged seats; Republicans lost only two of their six challenged seats thus they retained their majority in and control of the State Senate, albeit by a slightly narrower margin.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections
More than $35 million was spent on the recall races. The spending on the nine races compares to $19.3 million spent in 2010's 115 legislative races, and approaches the $37.4 million spent in the race for governor.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Results
Primary recall elections took place in July. The first general recall election also took place in that month, with Democratic Senator Dave Hansen retaining his seat. Six general elections took place on August 9 resulting in four Republican senators retaining their seats and two being defeated with Republicans keeping a majority in the Wisconsin Senate. Two Democratic incumbents (Wirch, Holperin) prevailed in their own recall races on August 16, which left Republicans with a net one-vote majority in the Wisconsin Senate.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, 'Placeholder' candidates
In all six Democratic-led recall attempts against Republican Senators, the Republican Party organized and supported the nominations of 'placeholder' candidates in the Democratic primaries (called "Fake Democrats" by some). According to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the purpose of the placeholder candidates was to force Democratic primaries and delay the general election, allowing their incumbent Senators to have additional time to campaign. Robocalls were sent out to 20,000 conservative voters for candidate Isaac Weix in an effort to get Republicans to cross over and vote in the primary. All the placeholder candidates were defeated. The cost to the state was estimated to be more than $475,000.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, 'Placeholder' candidates
State Republicans blamed the cost on Democrats, stating that it was "all State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate's doing", as they had promoted the idea of recalls, and said that Democrats should pay the additional cost. Although recall efforts against Democratic senators began about a week before Republican senators, the Wisconsin Democratic Party officially backed the recall efforts as early as March 2. Official state Republican Party support related to the recall elections occurred when the placeholder candidates were put in place in June.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Senate District 30
In Senate district 30, Republican candidate John Nygren, a State Representative from House District 89 in Marinette, was removed from the ballot in the July 19 recall election for Democratic Senator Dave Hansen of Green Bay. The state Government Accountability Board voted unanimously on June 27 that Nygren had received only 398 of the required 400 valid signatures on his nominating papers. This only left Recall Organizer David VanderLeest as the only certified candidate against Senator Hansen.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Senate District 30
The board had initially found that Nygren had submitted 424 qualifying voter signatures, but 39 signatures were challenged by Democrats as not being from Hansen's district, and 26 of the challenged signatures were determined to be invalid. Nygren filed a lawsuit in Dane County Court seeking to overturn the board's decision, but was unsuccessful.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Elector qualification changes
These recall elections were Wisconsin's first under provisions of a newly enacted law-making two significant changes to the eligibility requirements for voting—photo ID and a longer residency requirement (from 10 to 28 days)—as well as the minor change of requiring electors to sign-in on the poll book.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Elector qualification changes
Voters were asked to show photo identification at the polls in order to vote. Because the law was signed on May 25 and had been in effect only since June 10, there was insufficient time for all voters without such identification to obtain a state ID card (a non-driving "driver's license") from the Department of Transportation. Consequently, in a "soft implementation" (practice for future elections), poll workers asked to see photo ID but did not require it. The photo ID serves as proof of identity but not necessarily of residence, which is a separate issue.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Political advertising strategies
Although the plan to eliminate most collective bargaining for public employees was the issue that sparked the recall campaigns, neither side talked much about that issue in the recall elections. Democrats were telling voters Republicans had gone the wrong way with the state budget by cutting schools and providing tax breaks to businesses and investors. Republicans touted their ability to honestly balance the state budget and keep taxes low.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
Pro -Walker protesters in Merrill, Wisconsin, attempting to recall Senator Holperin (D-12th District) claimed to be intimidated by a crowd of Holperin supporters, one of whom reportedly ripped up some of their recall petitions. Similarly, pro-union protesters in River Falls, Wisconsin, attempting to recall Senator Harsdorf (R-10th District) allegedly had their petitions snatched by a local man who drove away in a car before dropping them into a puddle.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
On March 17, one Republican petitioner collecting signatures to recall Senator Hansen allegedly stole several personal belongings from a couple. The man in question was found to be from Colorado and had a felony record; he had come to Wisconsin with other out-of-state petitioners. On the evening of April 14, an apparent break-in occurred at an office building owned by supporters of the recall of Senator Hansen. The burglar allegedly made off with petitions, a computer, and T-shirts, worth $1,000 in total. On May 3, Professor Stephen Richards of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh was reprimanded for encouraging students to sign a recall petition against Republican State Senator Randy Hopper.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
On June 22, the Wisconsin Republican Party filed a verified complaint with the Government Accountability Board against Shelly Moore for knowingly violating state law by using taxpayer-funded resources for political campaigning. Moore, a public school teacher, and WEAC union leader is challenging incumbent candidate Sheila Harsdorf in the 10th Senate district recall election. The Wisconsin Public Purpose Doctrine prohibits the use of government resources for a nonpublic purpose such as campaign activity, and political candidates are prohibited under state law from unlawfully accepting anything of value for campaign purposes. Democrats responded by stating that Moore could not be campaigning, as the recall effort did not exist when the emails were written.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
On July 12, exit poll workers outside voting locations in Menomonee Falls and Butler were handing out what appeared to look like voting ballots to those who had voted. Handing out such pieces of paper is illegal within 100 feet of a polling location. Others were accused of blocking polling locations. Menomonee Falls and Butler are within Alberta Darling's 8th Senate district.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
Later that month, Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, began sending absentee ballots to Democratic voters in all districts undergoing recall elections, with instructions to return the ballots to the city clerk before August 11 even though the recall election itself is being held August 9 in those districts. In addition, the voters were instructed to return the ballots to what was claimed to be "the absentee ballot processing center", but was actually a mailing address for conservative group Wisconsin Family Action.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
On July 29, the Government Accountability Board criticized a Republican-allied voter ID advocacy group We're Watching Wisconsin Elections, for publishing reference guides for election observers that featured "numerous significant and factual errors." For example, the reference guides stated that student voters using their college ID must present "a tuition receipt with their name and address on it dated within the last 9 months". Wisconsin voter ID law does not actually require such a receipt.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
On August 1, the Republican Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board accusing Sandy Pasch's campaign of possible collusion with the group Citizen Action of Wisconsin, of which Pasch is a member of the board of directors. Pasch claimed she had had no contact with anyone at Citizen Action regarding any political activities. Gillian Morris, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action both stated that there was no coordination whatsoever between Pasch in the recall election, and Citizen Action.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Recall controversies
An open records request revealed a receipt of a talking points memo from Citizen Action during the Budget Repair battle to Rep. Pasch’s office. That same day, the liberal group Wisconsin Jobs Now offered free food and offered rides to vote. State election authorities questioned whether it was a violation of election law. Offering rewards in exchange for voting is illegal. The Milwaukee District Attorney later dismissed the complaint, after a staff member of the self-described conservative organization Media Trackers who made the charge recanted. On August 3, the anti-abortion groups Wisconsin Right to Life and Family Action allegedly offered gift cards and other rewards to volunteers, according to messages obtained by local press. A Milwaukee County prosecutor is reviewing the issue.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Spending
The amount of money being spent on the recall elections was over $30 million, with $25 million of that coming from outside groups on both sides and $5 million being spent by the candidates. The flow of money came as unions saw the recall elections as the best way to halt Walker's agenda and to send a message to other states considering changing their collective bargaining laws. Unions played a significant role for Democrats by spending money on advertising and supplying manpower in all the Senate districts. Conservative groups responded with their own spending for the elections.


2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, Spending
Spending by Republican organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity, is hard to quantify, as many of them do not report their spendings or receipts publicly. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, roughly $12–$13 million had been spent on the recall elections by outside groups, as of early August, with conservative groups outspending liberals.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election of 2011 took place on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Unlike past elections for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the race between 12-year incumbent David Prosser, Jr. and challenger Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg gained significant nationwide publicity as it was widely seen as a referendum on Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget reforms in Wisconsin, and a part of the 2011 Wisconsin protests.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Campaign, Primary election
In December 2010, Prosser's campaign director expressed strong support for governor-elect Walker, saying Prosser's "personal ideology more closely mirrors" Walker's, and that a win by Prosser would result in, "protecting the conservative judicial majority and acting as a common sense compliment to both the new administration and Legislature." He later disavowed the statements and claimed he had not seen the release. Prosser's campaign manager also said, "This election is about a 4-3 common sense conservative majority vs. a 3-4 liberal majority, and nothing more."


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Campaign, Primary election
In a survey of attorneys conducted by the Milwaukee Bar Association that was published February 2011, Prosser received more votes saying he was "qualified" than any of his opponents; besting Kloppenburg by a margin of 296 to 112. He was endorsed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the Sun Prairie Star. He won the primary handily, receiving 231,000 votes to second place finisher Kloppenburg's 105,000 votes; a 30% margin.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Campaign, General election
In the general election of April 5, 2011, Prosser again faced Kloppenburg. The contest received considerable attention due to the ongoing protests of Walker's budget repair bill and limitations on public employee bargaining rights; issues which would likely soon come before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Heading into the election, the court had a conservative majority of 4-2-1 with Prosser identifying as a conservative and N. Patrick Crooks considered a swing vote. Both candidates stated their unhappiness with the increasingly partisan nature of the race.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Campaign, General election
Kloppenburg, supported by unions, particularly those of the public sector employees, tried to tie Prosser to the policies of Republican Governor Walker, and his March 2011 law limiting most of Wisconsin's public employees' collective bargaining rights. The non-partisan race for the court seat was also characterized as a proxy battle or referendum on the administration of Governor Walker and other Republican officials. Both candidates indicated their unhappiness regarding the increasingly partisan nature of the race, with Prosser claiming that his defeat would mean the end of judicial independence.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Campaign, General election
On March 31, Prosser's campaign co-chair, former Democratic governor Patrick Lucey, resigned from the campaign and endorsed Kloppenburg, claiming Prosser had lost his impartiality, and was showing "a disturbing distemper and lack of civility that does not bode well for the High Court". The Wausau Daily Herald reversed its primary election endorsement, and urged its readers to vote against Prosser in the general, describing him as "an intemperate figure given to partisan rhetoric". Citing the earlier statement of Prosser's campaign director that the election is about maintaining a conservative majority on the court, The Capital Times endorsed Kloppenburg. Prosser was endorsed by the Sun Prairie Star, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (via Twitter), among others for the general election.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Campaign, General election
State officials predicted a voter turnout of around 20 percent, a typical level of turnout for an April election. However, voter interest and turnout were unusually high with nearly 1.5 million votes cast.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Results
On April 6, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, with 100% of precincts reporting and absentee ballots all tallied, had Kloppenburg maintaining a 204 vote lead. Re -canvassing began the next day to verify to election results, and errors were found in counties favoring both contestants; Prosser gained votes from Winnebago and Waukesha, while Kloppenburg regained ground from a scattering of other counties, including Grant, Portage, Door, Iowa, Rusk, Vernon, and Shawano.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Results
A news conference on April 7, held by the County Clerk of Waukesha County reported the existence of errors in Brookfield, Wisconsin where votes were never submitted to the Waukesha County total due to human error and that Prosser had picked up a 7,500-vote margin over Kloppenburg in the county as a result. In response, the Kloppenburg campaign filed an Open Records request for the contact records of the Waukesha County Clerk and a request was filed with the region's US Attorney to impound the additional ballots.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Results
As of April 8, 2011, Waukesha County's turnout was officially 47% (increased from 42% before the correction). Statewide turnout during the election was officially 33%. On election day, Deputy Clerk Gina Kozlik had estimated turnout in the county to be 20-25%, with up to 35% turnout in some polling locations within the county. Nate Silver of Fivethirtyeight.com did an analysis on the turnout numbers and found the Waukesha results to be in line with previous elections. An independent investigation into the actions of Waukesha County Clerk found probable cause to believe that she violated the state law requiring county clerks to post all returns on Election Night, but concluded that the violation was not wilful and therefore did not constitute criminal misconduct.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Results
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board announced on April 8 that they were sending voting officials to Waukesha County to confirm the 14,315 votes that were found to never have been submitted from Brookfield. On April 15, Prosser was named the official winner by 7,316 votes after all county canvassing was completed. On April 20, Kloppenburg asked for a recount. The recount began on Wednesday, April 27 and must finish by May 9.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Results
At the end of May 9, all Wisconsin counties aside from Waukesha had completed their recount process. In response, a Dane County judge gave them an extension until May 26 to complete the recount process. It was reported that Waukesha County was counting only one ward at a time and, on May 9, moved to a larger area in the Waukesha County courthouse in order to count two wards at one time. This is much slower than the rest of the counties, adjacent Milwaukee County reportedly counted eight wards simultaneously. Waukesha County reportedly took extra steps to ensure all votes were counted correctly.


2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Results
On May 20, the recount was completed across the state with Prosser leading by 7,006 votes. On May 23, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board confirmed Prosser won the election.


2011 Wisconsin protests
The 2011 Wisconsin protests were a series of demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin in the United States beginning in February involving at its zenith as many as 100,000 protesters opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin Budget Repair bill." The protests centered on the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, with satellite protests also occurring at other municipalities throughout the state. Demonstrations took place at various college campuses, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. After the collective bargaining bill was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 14, the number of protesters declined to about 1,000 within a couple days.


2011 Wisconsin protests
The protests were a major driving force for recall elections of state senators in 2011 and 2012, the failed recall of Governor Scott Walker in 2012 and a contentious Wisconsin Supreme Court election in 2011.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
Wisconsin was the first state in the United States to provide collective bargaining rights to public employees in 1959. Over the past decades public sector labor unions have grown from 10.8% of public workers being represented by a union in 1960 to 36.2% in 2010. Over the same time period, the percentage of private sector employees in a union shrank from 31.9% to 6.9%. This increase in public-employee unionism coincided with the granting of collective bargaining rights to public employees. Total union membership for all employees, both public and private, has decreased substantially over the years, with total union membership in 2010 at 11.4%.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
When Jim Doyle (D-Wisconsin) was governor (2003–2010), the budget deficits that the state faced were filled three times by taking money from the transportation fund, in amounts totaling $1.257 billion. Subsequently, 53 counties throughout the state passed referenda to prevent government officials from taking money from the transportation fund for use in other projects.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
Both Governor Walker and his opponent in the 2010 Governor's race, Tom Barrett, stated that they would not close the budget deficit by taking money from the transportation fund. As a candidate for governor, Walker proposed that state employees pay more toward their pensions saying it would save the state about $180 million a year. Walker was elected as Governor in November 2010.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
Under collective-bargaining agreements, employers and unions had negotiated health insurance considerations from carrier to cost to benefits. Contributions for health insurance of active employees total 38.8% of wages. For private-sector workers nationwide, as of 2011, the average is 10.7%. Public-sector unions may also have cover health insurance for retirees, which can have significant cost. This is especially the case for teachers in many states, because the eligibility rules of their pension plans often induce them to retire in their 50s, and Medicare does not kick in until age 65. According to David Cay Johnston, prior to Act 10, Wisconsin state employers paid 5% of employee wages into their pension as was negotiated under the principle of "deferred compensation."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
In January 2011, the state legislature passed a series of bills providing additional tax cuts and deductions for businesses at "a two-year cost of $67 million." In early February, the Walker administration projected a budget shortfall in 2013 (Wisconsin functions on two-year budgets) of $3.6 billion and a $137 million shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
The Walker-backed bill proposed to alleviate the budget shortfall included taking away the ability of public sector unions to bargain collectively over pensions and health care and limiting pay raises of public employees to the rate of inflation, as well as ending automatic union dues collection by the state and requiring public unions to recertify annually. The bargaining changes exempted the unions of public safety officers, including police, firefighters, and state troopers. Walker stated that without the cuts thousands of state workers would have to be laid off.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Background
The protests and demonstrations began following Walker's introduction of Assembly Bill 11 to the Wisconsin State Assembly on February 14, 2011.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On Monday, February 14, the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Teaching Assistants Association distributed "We ♥ UW: Don't Break My ♥" Valentine cards to the governor, as a means of protesting the bill's negative impacts on working conditions at the university.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 15, tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated in and around the Capitol building in Madison regarding the proposed legislation's limitations on collective bargaining for and against Walker's bill. "Kill the Bill" remained one of the main slogans of the protesters. That same day, union members, students and private-sector citizens took part in public hearings with the senators and representatives from both parties, which lasted 17 hours; some defenders of the bill expressed their position, but the majority of the participants opposed the bill.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
By February 16, the number of protesters in front of the Wisconsin State Capitol was estimated at 30,000.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 17, about 25,000 people continued the protest. Citing concerns that Republicans were attempting to pass the legislation without scheduling adequate time for public review and debate, Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller led the 14 Senate Democrats in fleeing the state to prevent the quorum necessary for a vote on the Budget Repair Bill. On the same day, the protests spread to Columbus, Ohio, where about 3,800 protesters demonstrated against a similar bill to "eliminate collective bargaining" being considered by the Ohio legislature. According to Mike Lux, some protesters in the two states carried Egyptian flags, indicating their Egyptian revolution inspiration. Ed Schultz of MSNBC's The Ed Show appeared live outside the Wisconsin State Capitol on February 17 and 18.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 18, the AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, and other state labor leaders addressed the protest crowd on the Capitol lawn. Trumka asserted that Governor Walker's plan was part of a larger national Republican strategy. The number of protesters in Madison grew to over 70,000 on February 19, including some who supported Walker's plan.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 19, 11 faculty members from the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine and Public Health established a "medical station" at the capitol, and signed sick notes for public employees abandoning their public post in order to protest. This shut down several school districts in the state.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
By February 20, protestors had undertaken a physical occupation of the Capitol building, establishing a fully functioning community within the public spaces of the Wisconsin State Capitol, including an information center, a sleeping area, a medic station staffed by members of the Madison Community Wellness Collective, and food stations with food for protestors supplied by local businesses. Protestors also covered the walls of the Capitol with thousands of homemade signs. On February 20, a union organizer participating in the protests said that the protests would continue "as long as it takes." Other union leaders called for teachers to return to work. During this timeframe several members of the teaching and project assistant union of UW-Madison () designed and implemented , a web site to help coordinate rallies, publish video footage by protesters, and relay general information about the bill and protests.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 22, Assembly Republicans began procedures to move the bill to a vote while Democrats submitted dozens of amendments and conducted speeches.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
Also on February 22, Walker delivered a state address on the Budget Repair Bill.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 22–23, the public information officer for the Madison Police Department (whose union was participating in the protests), claimed "almost all" of the protesters were from Wisconsin, while an independent reporter from the Daily Cardinal estimated one in four of the protesters were from outside the state.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 23, Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy placed a prank telephone call to Walker claiming to be billionaire David Koch, one of Walker's largest corporate supporters. During the 20-minute call, Walker discussed a method of getting the absent Senators to return, rejected placing agent provocateurs among the protesters, and that he spoke daily with like-minded Ohio Governor John Kasich.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
Walker's office later confirmed that the recording of the call was genuine, and stated, "The phone call shows that the Governor says the same thing in private as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin is having." Two local public officials, including Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, expressed concern that Walker's comments could be considered ethics violations.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
In the aftermath of the call, Senate Democrats refused requests from Governor Walker to return to Wisconsin and negotiate a compromise. Some characterized their wariness as a consequence of the fake call.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 23, the 14 Senators who fled the Wisconsin Capitol were seen at a hotel near Chicago.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
At 1:00 am on February 25, following sixty hours of debate, the final amendments had been defeated and the Republican leadership of the Wisconsin State Assembly cut off debate as well as the public hearing and moved quickly to pass the budget repair bill in a sudden vote. The vote was 51 in favor and 17 opposed, with 28 representatives not voting.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
The final vote took place without warning, and the time allowed for voting was so short (lasting only 5–15 s) that fewer than half of the Democratic representatives were able to vote; many reportedly pushed the voting button as hard as possible but it did not register. Four Republican representatives voted against the bill.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 25, following rumors that the Capitol building would be closed and the protesters moved out, the head of the state's largest police union issued a statement urging Governor Walker to keep the Capitol open. Jim Palmer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, went on to state that his organization stood with the protesters, despite the fact that law enforcement officers were exempt from the budget repair bill's collective bargaining changes. Palmer then called on off-duty officers to sleep in the Capitol that evening. Later that day, the Department of Administration announced that the Capitol building would remain open.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 26, between 70,000 and 100,000 protested the proposed budget in Madison. They were joined by thousands at state capitals around the nation. Out of state union supporters continued to join the protests to show their support, with hundreds of protesters being bused by New York Teamsters.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
Appearing on Meet the Press on February 27, Governor Walker said he did not believe the unions were sincere in offering the pension and health care concessions because local unions had recently pushed through contracts with school boards and city councils that did not include contributions to the pensions and health care, and that in one case, the contract actually included a pay increase.