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Republicans have controlled the chamber since 1994. They went into Election Day with a 51-47 advantage, but Democrats were banking on the economic downturn and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's popularity to help them reclaim the majority.
According to early unofficial returns, GOP Reps. Jeff Fitzgerald, John Townsend, Rich Zipperer, Joel Kleefisch, Brett Davis, Steve Nass, Joan Ballweg and Rob Vos held off challengers.
Unofficial returns showed Keith Ripp, R-Lodi, narrowly defeated Trish O'Neil, D-Columbus, for an open seat. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Ripp had 15,446 votes, or almost 48 percent. O'Neil had 15,418 votes, a difference of 28 votes. O'Neil didn't immediately return a message asking whether she would seek a recount.
Democratic control of the Assembly would reshape Wisconsin politics. Democrats held a three-seat edge in the state Senate, and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle isn't up for re-election until 2010. If the party were to hold on to the Senate and retake the Assembly, it would have a clear path to advance its agenda.
Sixteen of the Senate's 33 seats were up for re-election, with seven incumbents — four Democrats and three Republicans — unopposed. One of the tightest contests was in southeastern Wisconsin, where four-term Republican incumbent Alberta Darling of River Hills looked to hold off a challenge from Democratic state representative and gynecologist Sheldon Wasserman of Milwaukee.
The heavy action, though, was expected in the Assembly, where all 99 seats were up for election. Twenty-six incumbents were unopposed, including 21 Democrats and five Republicans, but nine seats were vacant.
Democrats had about a dozen Assembly Republicans in their sights. The hotter races included a bid by Democratic economist John Waelti of Monroe to unseat two-term GOP incumbent Brett Davis of Oregon, and in Eau Claire, stay-at-home mom Kristen Dexter's challenge of two-term GOP incumbent and archery shop owner Terry Moulton.
Republicans conceded nothing, targeting a number of open seats and vulnerable Democratic incumbents, chief among them communications professor Kim Hixson, a first-termer from Whitewater.
Hixson defeated GOP Rep. Debi Towns of Janesville by 38 votes in a recount in 2006. Towns was looking Tuesday to reclaim her old job.
