Wisconsin Democrats announced late Monday that they are filing recall signatures against a fourth Republican state senator, in the political battle over Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-public employee union agenda. And with this development, the momentum is growing for control of the chamber to be up for grabs in the coming months.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press, whose readership includes people across the Minnesota state line in Harsdorf’s northwestern Wisconsin district, reports:
Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Graeme Zielinski said a petition will be filed with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on Tuesday. While he didn’t have a total signature count Monday afternoon — signatures were still coming in — Zielinski said the number is well over the 15,744 needed.
Democrats on Monday filed petitions against Republican state Sen. Luther Olsen, and had previously filed petitions targeting state Sen. Dan Kapanke and state Sen. Randy Hopper. These petitions are still being reviewed by the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections.
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. They are collecting signatures in all eight Republican-held districts that are eligible. Under Wisconsin’s recall law, elected officials must have served at least one year of their term before recalled — thus exempting the half of the Senate that was just elected in 2010.
In order to initiate a recall, signatures of at least 25 percent of the number of voters in the previous gubernatorial election, within the targeted district, must be collected in a 60-day window.
Republicans are targeting Democrats for recall, but have not yet filed any signatures.
