Candidates for governor press for support in western Wis.

Gov. Scott Walker
Republican Gov. Scott Walker (above) campaigned in Hudson, Wis., on Saturday ahead of Tuesday's recall election. Walker's Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, also campaigned along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border Saturday.
MPR Photo/Rupa Shenoy

Both candidates for governor in Wisconsin campaigned near the Minnesota border on Saturday ahead of Tuesday's recall election.

Incumbent Republican Scott Walker is the third U.S. governor to face a recall. The drive to oust him was spurred by anger over his plan to severely curtail most public workers' collective bargaining rights.

On Saturday afternoon, Walker told supporters at a Hudson phone bank that he was depending on them.

"I know many of you have been on the phones," he said. "I know many will be on the phones later today. I need your help today, I need your help tomorrow, I need your help all the way through 8 o'clock p.m. on Tuesday. Because we cannot rest until we've reached every single voter out there -- every single voter who understands that we need the state to move forward and not backwards."

Walker's Democratic challenger, Tom Barrett headed to St. Croix Falls and Superior, Wis. Barrett accuses Walker of causing an ideological civil war in the state, adding that he will help Wisconsin get past that and focus on jobs and education.

"I want people in the north and western part of the state to understand that I will be the governor for all of Wisconsin," Barrett said. "And clearly this is going to be a turnout issue because the polls have gotten very, very tight, and we feel very, very confident that we've got a great number of volunteers who're out knocking on doors and making phone calls right now, and that's going to make the difference in the end."

Barrett is the mayor of Milwaukee, which Walker calls "one of the poorest cities in the country." Walker says voters should not help Barrett replicate that result at the state level.

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