Wisconsin State Senate Recalls

Pages

Signatures are being filed today to recall Randy Hopper, a GOP state senator here in Wisconsin. Hopper is the second GOP member to have enough signatures gathered to file for a recall (Dan Kapanke was the first).

Context:
In early February, newly-elected Governor Scott Walker put forward a bill intended to address Wisconsin's looming budgetary issues. It included salary and benefit cuts for public-sector employees, as well as provisions that eliminated the right to collective bargaining for some, and made it significantly harder for others (by declaring the state would no longer withhold union dues, mandating annual re-certification of union representation, declaring that unions could not negotiate for anything other than salary, and capping salary increases at cost-of-living unless expressly approved via referendum). Things have gotten acrimonious, and both sides have filed notice of intent to recall all eligible state senators.

Good graphical overview of the recall efforts:
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/wcMSZ.png)

Oddly, for a side that has attempted to make political hay on the "out of state" support issue, the effort to recall Democrats is being organized by an anti-immigration group from Utah.

No recalls are active for the State Assembly. Wisconsin law mandates that an elected official serve a full year before facing a recall effort, and our entire Assembly was elected this past fall. There will also likely be a big fight will be to recall Governor Walker. As with the State Assembly, that can't happen until January, since he was sworn in at the beginning of the year. That's the one we'll need support for the most, I expect.

There was a previous thread about the actions by Governor Walker and our state GOP here. That one got sent to fat camp. Let's keep this one focused on Wisconsin State Senate recalls - I'll create others for specific topics like the recent Supreme Court election, the lawsuit over the status of 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, or the eventual efforts to recall Governor Walker when there's something new to discuss.

Also: I'd like to plead for us all to make room for dissenting opinions and reasonable debate.

Don't have them now, but if they're still unposted, I can plop in the likely partisan levels of the districts based on 2008 later tonight.

Sorry for getting you confused with Malor in the other thread, Dimmer. Sometimes I get in a rush, and you know, it's kind of shadowy here in the forum, hard to tell people apart...

Robear wrote:

it's kind of shadowy here in the forum, hard to tell people apart...

Dimmer's the one in the back corner wearing glasses and ululating.

2008 Election results for State Senator's districts (should give a rough sense of the partisan makeup):

Democratic senators:

Obama McCain Margin
Coggs (6) 89 11 O+78
Holperin (12) 53 46 O+7
Miller (16) 66 32 O+34
Wirch (22) 57 41 O+16
Hansen (30) 56 42 O+14

Republican senators:

Obama McCain Margin
Cowles (2) 53 45 O+8
Darling (8) 51 47 O+4
Harsdorf (10) 50 48 O+2
Olsen (14) 52 47 O+5
Hopper (18) 51 47 O+4
Grothman (20) 36 63 M+27
Lazich (28) 39 60 M+21
Kapanke (32) 61 38 O+23
Tanglebones wrote:

2008 Election results for State Senator's districts (should give a rough sense of the partisan makeup):

Democratic senators:

Obama McCain Margin
Coggs (6) 89 11 O+78
Holperin (12) 53 46 O+7
Miller (16) 66 32 O+34
Wirch (22) 57 41 O+16
Hansen (30) 56 42 O+14

Republican senators:

Obama McCain Margin
Cowles (2) 53 45 O+8
Darling (8) 51 47 O+4
Harsdorf (10) 50 48 O+2
Olsen (14) 52 47 O+5
Hopper (18) 51 47 O+4
Grothman (20) 36 63 M+27
Lazich (28) 39 60 M+21
Kapanke (32) 61 38 O+23

Bolding the ones who won their seat in 2008 by less than three percentage points. That's interesting stuff - thanks for tracking it down, Tanglebones.

Article on the newly found votes.

Last fall, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper reported the Waukesha County Board had ordered an audit of Nickolaus's office, citing concerns about the integrity of the equipment she used he backup system.

The newspaper said the move came after Nickolaus removed the election results collection and tallying system from the county computer network last spring and installed it on standalone personal computers in her office.

The newspaper quoted an official saying Nickolaus had been "uncooperative with attempts to have information technologists review the system and confirm the backups."

Yeah...

Don't worry, I'm sure Nickolaus has learned her lesson since turning state witness and getting immunity for her role in the 2001 Wisconsin state caucus scandal...

IMAGE(http://i41.tinypic.com/ors1o6.jpg)

I'm telling you, you listen to Garrison Keillor and this stuff is just the *last* thing you expect from any state near Minnesota...

Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and State Government Accountability Board will be holding a press conference at 2pm today, to release the results of an investigation into illegal campaign contributions.

In what may be related news, William Gardner, the president and CEO of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co., was charged this morning with two felony counts of violating campaign finance laws. Among the candidates Mr. Gardner made illegal contributions to was Governor Walker.

(I know, this is a bit of an awkward fit for the State Senate Recalls thread, but we already have three WI threads running, and I didn't want to create another quite yet. It may turn out that some of our State Senators are implicated, as well.)

Oh man. I'm suddenly paying much more attention

Turns out almost all the contributions in question were to Walker after all, but it doesn't sound like there will be any charges against his campaign staff or the administration.

Gardner fell on his sword, insisted he bore sole responsibility for the felony campaign-law violations, and that there was never a quid pro quo.

Brief update - challengers have been announced for the recall elections for Randy Hopper and Dan Kapanke.

Jennifer Shilling (currently a state representative) will be running against Senator Kapanke.
Jessica King (currently a member of the Oshkosh Common Council) will be running against Senator Hopper.

[Edit to add: the effort to recall Democratic State Senator Bob Wirch had announced last week that they had enough signatures to force a recall, and that they'd be filing this week. It looks like they haven't done that yet (they have until April 25, so even if they don't file tomorrow it's not the end of the road for their effort).]

Effort to recall Sheila Harsdorf has hit 110% of signatures needed to force a recall. They plan on waiting until they hit 125% before filing, so there's an ample buffer for any challenges.

I don't believe the Wirch recall folks have filed yet, though they still have another week until that deadline.

Petition to recall Luther Olsen will be filed today. I believe that'll make three petitions to recall Republican state senators filed (with the Sheila Harsdorf effort over the finish line but waiting to file until they have more of a buffer).

Wirch recall effort has to file by next Monday, but they're the only effort to recall a Democrat so far who've said they have enough signatures to force a recall election.

Three Democrat senators up for recall

The campaigns against Sens. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), Jim Holperin (D-Conover) and Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) said separately that they'll file enough signatures to force recall elections against each senator.

I like how the article doesn't give any details *why* they are being recalled. Is this just a game of "oh yeah, watch this!", or is there a real reason to recall the Dems?

LeapingGnome wrote:

I like how the article doesn't give any details *why* they are being recalled. Is this just a game of "oh yeah, watch this!", or is there a real reason to recall the Dems?

The leading one is the flight to Illinois. That was a very divisive move. But I am scared as some efforts seemed spearheaded by foreign groups.

Are you scared that Jessie Jackson and other outside groups were supporting the union protests? There is outside money coming in from both sides, so please don't try and play this off as if it's just the Republicans that are getting outside help.

Well, specifically I am scared of the Utah based anti immigration group. Jessee Jackson has helped negotiate hostage situations, so a good deal less so. Unless you are saying I should be afraid of him too because he is black! See, I can be silly too. Now if you can point me to the foreign agency which filed for recall of Republican senators, I am all eyes(Kinda makes me look like Vectorman, you should see my yearbook photo).

Uh, how is coming in from out of state to show your support for solidarity during union protests "outside money"? Granted, I haven't heard whether or not Jesse Jackson actually funded the Democratic side in any way, and maybe he did somehow. But comparing a Civil Rights activist, who came out to support what basically amounted to Civil Rights protests, to an ultra-conservative special interests group seems kind of... wrong.

Petition filed to recall Alberta Darling.

MattDaddy wrote:

Three Democrat senators up for recall

The campaigns against Sens. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), Jim Holperin (D-Conover) and Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) said separately that they'll file enough signatures to force recall elections against each senator.

Interesting - they've definitely been flying under the radar, since the Wirch effort is the only one I'd heard was even close to the finish line.

Meanwhile, supporters of GOP senator Luther Olsen crashed his recall challenger's event today.

We're in for a bumpy springtime, I fear.

The Darling numbers are not surprising, but can be deceiving. Her district is very oddly shaped, and zig-zags across a number of very different areas. The big Democratic areas are likely where the vast majority of the petition signatures came from. The petition numbers make it look like she'd be in trouble, but she also has a large area that leans heavily Republican.

It's already been a bumpy winter. Eight of the doctors giving out fake excuses to protesting teachers are under investigation, a least one union head was caught using mafia-style tactics in Racine (or Kenosha) county, union supporters shut down a town hall meeting in Wauwatosa due to being disruptive, and so on. I find it curious that you seem to overlook these while managing to find the time to post dirty stories about conservative and/or Republican supporters.

MattDaddy wrote:

It's already been a bumpy winter. Eight of the doctors giving out fake excuses to protesting teachers are under investigation, a least one union head was caught using mafia-style tactics in Racine (or Kenosha) county, union supporters shut down a town hall meeting in Wauwatosa due to being disruptive, and so on. I find it curious that you seem to overlook these while managing to find the time to post dirty stories about conservative and/or Republican supporters.

Some of this is ground we've already covered, but let's recap.

Dimmerswitch[/url]]

MattDaddy wrote:

2) Doctors giving out fake excuses

As noted previously, it appears this was a spontaneous action by physicians who wanted to support the protesters. I think it was a well-intentioned mistake, and haven't seen any number about how many people took these notes with an intent to use them.

MattDaddy wrote:

5) Union members showing up at the homes of republicans and saying things like "we know what your kids look like".

I haven't seen any reporting about this (and I'd love to read your sources). If anybody actually did this, it's completely out of bounds and they're only hurting the cause they're ostensibly fighting for (unless they're actually Walker supporters trying to frame union members, in which case they're earning their keep).

I can't be totally sure, but I think you're referring to the Sensenbrenner meeting in Wauwatosa. The only portion I've seen that could reasonably be characterized as disruptive is the footage of the crowd shouting "SHAME", which happened after Representative Sensenbrenner shut the meeting early, with many constituents still eager to speak. If there's footage or stories from other constituents that the crowd was trying to shut down the town meeting, I'm happy to see your links.

For what it's worth, I do post stories about behavior I disagree with, even when it's from people who I may agree with politically.

[Edit to re-rail the thread]
Interesting info about Senator Darling's district. I know she won her last election by less than 3%, but it sounds like a pretty mixed turf, demographically. I believe Walker carried the vote there (at 53% or so), and Obama just barely won it (at 51%).

I find it curious that you seem to overlook these while managing to find the time to post dirty stories about conservative and/or Republican supporters.

Ixnay on the okesjay, guys, he's on to you!

Good thing you're never disrespectful to people you disagree with, and you don't go for "gotcha" posts, Matt. That way, you can criticize all you want and keep the moral high ground. Neat trick.

Dimmer, neither of those was ground already covered. The doctors are just now under investigation, at least that was my impression based on a recent story. The union story was also pretty recent. Bringing up posts from months ago doesn't cover them.

I've just noticed in this thread your choice in stories always seems to skew towards one side. If that's intentional that's your choice, but I was under the impression that you wanted to have a fair and open discussion on the issues. Including stories like the one about the campaign donor make it seem like you're just trying to make one side look bad (BTW, that guy also covered donations to Democrats like former governor Doyle. It wasn't just Walker).

Here's links to
the union letter sent to businesses and the recent investigation into doctors at the protests.

Out of respect for you and this thread I'm not going to address Robears comments.

Maybe there should be a new topic, but I kind've like the idea of threatening boycotts to businesses. Union strength is in solidarity, and business weakness is in their need to make profits. It seems like threatening boycotts to places that don't support the same ideas they do is a time honored tradition dating back to bus boycotts.

I can see the point of local business owners -- it's frustrating to be asked to take sides on a fight, especially when a lot of those business owners probably already have the claws of the Chamber of Commerce deeply imbedded in their flesh.

But...it's not like Unions are threatening to legally take away the bargaining rights of the business owner...

But in seriousness, a threat to boycott seems pretty tame. I was expecting a letter threatening arson or cement shoes...

The part that is disturbing is that the letter said taking a neutral stance was the same as saying no to them. So if business says they want to stay out of this fight because they don't want to take sides and alienate customers, the union will target them as an enemy. This kind of wording is intimidation and threatening. A lot of local businesses felt that way.

The actions by those doctors haven't changed in the intervening months, nor has my opinion. I totally support the investigation - if people actually took notes from the physicians intending to use them fraudulently, those doctors should face disciplinary action.

I'm fine with boycotts as a way to influence business practices. The actions Jim Parrett took in Racine cross a line - remaining neutral is not the same as supporting a side, and the tone in the portion of that latter the WSJ excerpted is grossly inappropriate.

I do support having a fair and open discussion. It's hardly as though this is journalism school, though - I definitely have an opinion on the issues, and I've never claimed any pretense at objectivity. When I come across stories about actions I disagree with, I post them - even when they're folks I may agree with politically. I'm more than happy to have anyone else do the same.

Now, I'd like to ask us all to remain civil, and keep the various Wisconsin threads focused on the individual topics at hand. If there are other topics that merit discussion we should create threads for them, too.

Now, I'd like to ask us all to remain civil, and keep the various Wisconsin threads focused on the individual topics at hand.

Those are my goals as well.

Pages