Wisc. Lt. Gov. Kleefisch urges voters not to sign ‘expensive’ recall petitions

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch (R) is urging voters not to sign recall petitions against herself and Gov. Scott Walker (R) because the special election would cost “about 7.7 million dollars.”

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin and United Wisconsin PAC launched a recall campaign against Walker and Kleefisch on Tuesday.

“There might be a day when someone asks you for your signature,” Kleefisch says in an ad released Wednesday. “Signing a recall petition is like saying you’re O.K. with spending $7.7 million on another recall election, 7.7 million that may already be allocated to merit raises for teachers or health care for the poor, or school books for your kids.”

“Signing a recall petition is like saying you’re O.K. with taking money away from those things and spending it on another special election,” she continues.

“Signing a recall petition is like saying you’re O.K with spending more months, and more millions, on political campaign ads. Signing a recall petition is like saying you’re O.K with the government taking more of your money to spend on other special election.”

Democrats need to collect 540,206 valid signatures in a 60-day period to force a recall election against Walker and Kleefisch.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint against Kleefisch after she released the ad, claiming that it deliberately creates the impression it is being released by the office of lieutenant governor.

The ad ends with a logo that says, ” Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch Forward,” but was paid for by the group People For Rebecca. Wisconsin law requires that campaign communications make clear they are paid for by a candidate’s committee.

“Rebecca Kleefisch, like Scott Walker, has failed to focus on any other job than her own and appears content to deceive Wisconsin voters using the same tricks being played on our state by corporate patrons like the Koch Brothers,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Wednesday.

“Rules apply strictly in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin if you’re a student who wishes to vote, or if you’re a sick child seeking health insurance, or a job seeker hoping to pay her bills, or a woman seeking reproductive health care. They don’t apply if you’re a Tea Party extremist seeking to dupe the public.”

Watch the ad, uploaded to YouTube on November 16, below: