Wisconsin Democrats are throwing the gauntlet down on another recall effort against a Republican state senator, in the battle over Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-public employee union law, with local Dems in Fond du Lac preparing to submit petitions against GOP state Sen. Randy Hoppper later on Thursday.
The state Senate currently has a 19-14 Republican majority, with Democrats hoping to pick up three seats in recall elections and win a majority.
From the Fond du Lac Reporter:
Union and Democratic Party supporters are expected to gather at rallies in Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Waupun today before heading down to Madison to deliver the required signatures to force a recall election against Sen. Randy Hopper.
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Fond du Lac Democratic Party Chairman Rich Mantz said the official announcement will be made Thursday at rallies scheduled in Oshkosh at 11 a.m., at 12:30 p.m. at Veterans Park in Fond du Lac and on the front steps of Waupun City Hall at 2 p.m.
In a sign of just how unusually high the stakes are for a state Senate seat, Hopper has brought in a campaign manager with national-level campaign experience.
In addition to the new anti-public employee union law, Hopper faces other obstacles related to his ongoing divorce, and public accusations by his estranged wife that Hopper had committed adultery. A survey released in mid-March by Daily Kos, conducted by Public Policy Polling (D), showed Hopper trailing a generic Democrat by a margin of 49%-44%.
Local Dems announced early this week that they were reviewing signatures, and believed they could have enough to trigger a recall.
Over on the other side of the state, in western Wisconsin, Democrats have already filed petitions against GOP state Sen. Dan Kapanke. Elsewhere, Republican activists claim to have enough signatures to trigger a recall against Democratic state Sen. Robert Wirch.
Other recall petitions efforts are still ongoing, on both sides of the aisle, and have due dates ranging from late-April to mid-May.
