Supporters of both gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker and Tom Barrett are gathering on Tuesday night in hopes that their hero will come out on top in Wisconsin's recall election.
The Republican faithful will be rallying with Gov. Scott Walker in the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha as supporters watch the results of Walker's second faceoff against Democratic challenger Barrett. Barrett's supporters will be gathering in the fifth-floor ballroom of the Hilton Milwaukee City Center.
The governor has been saying for the last couple weeks that he believes the election results will be a re-affirmation of the 2010 results in which he defeated Barrett, but he has spent the last few days reminding his supporters that they must turn out to do that.
While he has harkened back to the last election cycle, the governor has been pushing a new tagline, "Moving Wisconsin Forward," a shift from his 2010 motto, "Open For Business." He has also emphasized his hopes for what will happen after Tuesday's vote.
The governor cast his own ballot at Jefferson Middle School in Wauwatosa on Tuesday morning. He continues to keep a home in that city along with the governor's residence in Maple Bluff. He went from there to stops in Green Bay and Wausau on Tuesday.
"So, on the day when I'm asking people to get out for us, we wanted to come back and reinforce what I've been talking about for the last year and a half and that's the importance of jobs importance of private sector grow jobs, in particular parts of manufacturing," he said.
On the campaign trail, he was talking less about today and more about what will happen tomorrow.
"I know in our household, we're ready to get our TV back where we can watch TV without all the commercials," he said. "All the attack ads and everything else like that. I think we're looking forward to that as well. But most importantly, (we're) looking forward to tomorrow getting up early and getting back to work, how we can get this state working again."
The governor said repeatedly that he thought the state was ready to move beyond the division of the past year and that he was the only candidate pledging to do that.
It's expected the election could hinge on the governor's support in some surrounding counties of Milwaukee as well as the Fox Valley. It's typically a turnout battle between these Republican strongholds and the cities of Madison and Milwaukee for who more effectively turned out their base.
Meanwhile, Barrett has kept on the campaign trail seemingly up to the last moment. After an impromptu late Milwaukee stop on Monday night, he hit the streets with "get out the vote canvasses" in Racine and Milwaukee. He started his day voting at the Milwaukee French Immersion School with his wife, Kris.
Campaign officials said that they're extremely encouraged by high turnout. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said that he believes the turnout is almost as high as 2008 in the city and that there are lots of first-time registrants at the polls.
Party insiders have been careful with their messaging, telling supporters as few as one or two votes could decide this race. This is a crucial communication choice to drive everyone possible to the polls.
Likewise, Barrett shifted talking points in recent days to emphasize messages targeting middle-class voters. For weeks, there has been talk about Walker's legal defense fund and the ongoing John Doe investigation involving some of Walker's former aides and associates when he was Milwaukee County executive.
As he cast his ballot, Barrett said that it's the result of building momentum.
"Obviously, the lines are very, very long which we take as a very encouraging sign. People are engaged in this, but as we noted in the last 96 hours is around the state the energy has been building and building and building," he said.
Democrats say their strongholds in the state -- Dane County and the Milwaukee area -- are bigger with more voters. However, campaign officials aren't arrogant going into the evening. They're still encouraging people to go vote.

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