Wisconsin win signals opportunity for Romney

Wisconsin’s Scott Walker became the first governor in US history to survive a recall election in a decisive victory that dealt a blow to the labour movement and raised Republican hopes of defeating Barack Obama in the presidential election in November.

Unions and liberal activists forced the recall election over a law curbing collective bargaining powers for public sector workers passed soon after Walker took office in 2011.

Republican Walker won by 8 percentage points over the Democratic challenger, Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, a bigger victory for the governor over the same challenger than two years ago.