It's here at last. Activists across the country and residents of Wisconsin, from Milwaukee to Marquette and from Sheboygan to Superior, have been striving tirelessly for this moment since a cold day in February 2011. Newly-elected Governor Scott Walker, fresh off a Tea Party "wave" and an apathetic voter turnout that they claimed for a mandate, threw away their election campaign promises and bipartisanship. Instead they chose to do the bidding of their billionaire buddies and mega-corporate donors - forcing through some of the most regressive anti-worker legislation in the country's history.

The citizens responded - occupying the State House inside and out for weeks. The minority Democrats also responded by leaving the state and denying the state senate of a quorum. Eventually Walker forced out the citizen protestors and illegally bypassed the quorum boycott with help from a thin majority on the State Supreme Court. They then used the same tactics to pass other legislation - from a state budget that fed corporate coffers at the expense of taxpayer dollars and other vital state services, to new laws designed to suppress voter registration and turnout.

None of that has broken the spirit of Wisconsin's residents. They managed to recall three state senators and push that chamber back into a practical deadlock. They collected more signatures for the recall of Gov. Walker than he received in the 2010 election, and they did it in less than two weeks. They also managed to collect enough signatures to recall the Lt. Governor and another batch of state senators, including the GOP majority leader. In response, the corporate machine has dumped billions of dollars into advertising, outspending Walker's opponents 7-to-1 in an effort to discourage the people from fighting back.

Despite all the hardship and obstacles thrown in their way, the citizens have turned out to vote today in numbers normally seen for a presidential election - and in some cases beyond that. New voters have also come, not afraid of the roadblocks shoved through the legislature.

It's being touted as the second most important election this year. I disagree - it's clearly the most important. In a few moments we'll find out just how important it is.