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Race for top cop nearly tied at close

WAUNAKEE — Tired, stressed but seemingly optimistic, state attorney general candidates Kathleen Falk and J.B. Van Hollen refrained early Wednesday morning from declaring victory or acknowledging defeat in a race, which — as of press time — is "too close to call."

Early in the evening, Van Hollen, the Republican candidate, predicted it was going to be a long night.

"I think we're going to be around for a while," Van Hollen told his victory party in Waunakee. "I think it's going to come down to a few votes."

Falk, the Democratic nominee, led Van Hollen most of the night but votes from Waukesha and Milwaukee around 12:30 a.m. placed Van Hollen in a close lead, reinvigorating a small crowd of supporters at Van Hollen's gathering after an emotionally taxing evening.

"You've seen nationally the Republicans are taking a beating. In the state of Wisconsin the Republicans are taking a beating," Van Hollen added. "But not J.B."

In an interview with The Badger Herald early Wednesday morning, Falk campaign communications director Adam Collins said Falk is not jumping to any conclusions.

"It's a close race, and we want to give the voters the opportunity to see the results come in with everybody else," he said.

Falk made no appearance at her Democratic rally with Gov. Jim Doyle in Middleton.

"Kathleen's at home with her family and a couple close friends watching the results come in just like everyone else is," Collins added.

Both campaigns said the election was too close to call before the night's end and predicted today would be the day of celebration.

Falk campaign manager Tim Del Monico said the campaign is going to remain "cautiously optimistic."

"We got a tight race coming in to the home stretch, and I feel incredibly confident that we're going to be able to pull it out," Van Hollen said.

University of Wisconsin sophomore Tom Wangard, who attended Van Hollen's celebration, called the event a "night of ups and downs."

"Obviously we've had some major losses in our party, but with this particular election we've all been pretty optimistic throughout the night," added Wangard, formerly a special assistant to the Van Hollen campaign.

Wangard said he was prepared to support Van Hollen until all the votes were in, but even "die-hard" supporters have to call it a night sometime.

—Dan Powell contributed to this report from Middleton.