Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Dave Hansen defeated Republican recall organizer David VanderLeest during the first of the re-call elections with 66 percent of the vote. There will be eight other recall races and if Democrats win five of those August races, they'll retake control of the Wisconsin Senate and gain key momentum in their efforts to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker next year. The recall elections stem from the controversial law Walker pushed earlier this year that strips most public workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Earlier this month, a slate of Democrats won in the primary for some of the re-call races, in which Republicans slated “fake” Democrats as part of their campaign to confuse voters and create chaos in Wisconsin polling places.