Indiana Primary Election 2012

Indiana Primary Election 2012, The Republican presidential contest is all but decided, but high-profile votes in three states Tuesday are likely to have ripple effects throughout the 2012 campaign season.

In Wisconsin, Democrats will pick their candidate to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker in a historical recall election; Indiana Republicans may end the distinguished 35-year Senate career of Dick Lugar, the party’s foreign policy maven; and North Carolina voters will pick a Democratic candidate for governor and decide on an anti-g*y union constitutional amendment.

Four Democrats are competing to take on Gov. Scott Walker in a recall election sparked by massive protests last year against the GOP’s anti-union laws that gutted collective bargaining for most state employees.

Walker’s 2010 opponent and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk lead the pack of contenders for the Democratic nomination.

Barrett is the favorite to emerge from Tuesday as Walker’s opponent in the June 5 recall election. A Marquette Law School poll from last week shows Barrett beating Falk 38 – 21 percent, with two other candidates — Secretary of State Doug La Follette and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout — trailing in the single digits.

With a Democratic candidate in place, the recall battle will continue to intensify as national conservative groups and labor unions and liberl groups dump money into the state. The election will be either vindication for Republican governors who say powerful unions must be curbed, or for progressives and labor activists who feel GOP lawmakers overreached with laws that hurt middle-class workers. (International Business Times)