UPDATE: A federal judge in Wisconsin today struck part of the state’s union-stripping bill (pdf of the ruling).
EARLIER: As expected, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board ordered recall elections for Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and three Republican state Senators. The board also ordered a recall election for a fourth Republican state senator, Pam Galloway, but she resigned earlier this month. Depending on potential primaries, the elections will happen May 8 and June 5.
Organizers had turned in an overwhelming number of signatures for recalling Walker and Kleefisch especially, and those signatures proved to be valid at a rate of more than 95 percent. From the Wisconsin State Journal:
The board’s staff had said in a memo Thursday that there were five fake names on Walker recall petitions, but it turned out one of those they suggested striking — Fungky Van Den Elzen — was a real person. That means they found just four fake names out of the 931,053 submitted on the Walker petitions: Adolf Hitler, Mick E. Mous, Donald L. Duck, and I Love Scott Walker Thanks.
That last name, I Love Scott Walker Thanks, sounds more like a protest of the recall than an attempt to fake a name for the sake of having him kicked out of office.
It’s worth noting that Wisconsin Republicans have lost what used to be a solid majority in the state Senate. As of this month, they’re down to a 16-16 tie, with an empty seat and one Republican who sides with Democrat on union issues. If they tried to pass Walker’s union-stripping bill today, they would lose. And if they fail to defend the seats they hold that are under recall, they face the loss of their majority entirely. (H/t for news and pdf of ruling: Jessica Arp of WISC-TV)
The place for in-depth analysis, commentary and informed perspectives. Recommended
