And like any sore losing liberal, Kloppenburg is mulling over the idea of challenging the results of the recount in court.

JS Online:

With the weeks-long recount complete, unofficial numbers confirm that state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser narrowly defeated Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg in the April 5 election.

But the battle may not be over yet, as Kloppenburg mulls whether to challenge the results in court.

And if a legal contest goes on long enough, attorneys say it could delay efforts to swear Prosser in for a new term on Aug. 1, leading to a temporary vacancy on the closely divided high court.

Final recount numbers submitted to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board show Prosser with 7,006 more votes than Kloppenburg.

She will spend the coming days reviewing the findings of the recount to determine whether to sue over the results, according to her campaign manager Melissa Mulliken.

"I'm not going to speculate" on the likelihood of a lawsuit, Mulliken said. "We have to look at the record and analyze the evidence and the law and make our decision from there."

Kloppenburg gained 316 votes in the recount, giving Prosser a 7,000 vote edge. The only reason to challenge a 7,000 vote loss is tactical; to prevent Prosser from taking his seat until after the Supreme Court votes on the governor's budget fix. A 3-3 tie would hand labor a victory since the injunction would not be overturned.

The vote will be certified on Monday.