Democrats hold seats in Wisconsin recall elections

By Reuters

RHINELANDER, Wis (Reuters) - Two Wisconsin Democratic state senators beat back Republican challengers on Tuesday in the last of a series of recall elections triggered by a fight over collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.

Both Democrats and Republicans were claiming victory on Tuesday in a series of nine summer recall votes in which Democrats unseated two incumbent Republicans but fell short of winning control of the state legislature.

Democrats had hoped to win a majority in the state senate following a fierce battle with Governor Scott Walker and his Republican allies earlier this year over public workers' union powers that involved mass protests, legislative maneuvering and court challenges.

"This was a political Rorschach test in that anyone can read anything into the result," said Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee governmental affairs professor and former Democratic lawmaker. "Politically, it was a draw."

He expected the results would embolden Democrats to try to recall Walker, which would require a half a million signatures just to schedule an election. "By November, we'll know if they're pursuing it seriously or not."

The Democrats who successfully defended their seats on Tuesday, Robert Wirch and Jim Holperin, were among 14 Wisconsin state senators who left the state in an attempt to prevent passage of an anti-union measure earlier this year.

Holperin beat political novice and Tea Party activist Kim Simac by 54 percent to 46 percent, according to WisPolitics.com. Wirch beat Republican lawyer Jonathan Steitz by 58 percent to 42 percent.

Overall in the recall elections, a total of three Democrats and four Republican incumbents kept their seats, while two Republicans were unseated.

CONTROL OF SENATE

Republicans managed to keep control of the state senate -- 17 to 16. But state Democrats point out that one Republican state senator, Dale Schultz, voted against Walker's curbs on public sector unions. They argue that the balance of power actually shifted away from the conservatives.

"The state Senate as now constituted would NOT have approved Walker's extreme, divisive assault on the middle class and working people," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said in a statement.

Brad Courtney, chair of the state's Republican Party, congratulated Simac and Steitz for mounting what he described as well-fought challenges.

"Wisconsin now emerges from this recall election season with a united Republican majority who has beaten off an attack from national unions and special interests and emerged steadfastly committed to carrying forward a bold job creation agenda," Courtney said in a statement.

Holperin told supporters in Rhinelander that he hoped the recall results would signal a change in Wisconsin politics.

"I do hope (these recalls) signal a new era of what I hope is a more moderate approach to public policy in the state, starting with the governor," he added.

Governor Walker fought for the union curbs, which restrict the bargaining rights of public workers and also make them pay more for health care and pensions, saying they were needed to help Wisconsin close a $3.6 billion budget deficit.

Democrats cried foul, saying public workers had already agreed to steep benefit cuts. They called the effort union-busting, designed to hobble organized labor -- a major source of Democratic Party financing -- ahead of the 2012 elections.

The fight thrust Wisconsin into the national spotlight, igniting massive pro-union protests and political fights that led to the recall efforts against six Republicans who backed the union curbs and three Democrats who opposed them.

Until this summer, there had been only 20 state-level recall elections in U.S. history, and the money poured into the recall campaigns has been something for the record books.

Mike Buelow, research director for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, estimates that candidates and outside groups spent as much as $37 million on the recalls.

With the recalls acting as somewhat of a rehearsal for 2012, experts say the spending could be a harbinger of record outlays next year.

Wisconsin Dems file complaint over ‘Koch brothers-funded scheme to suppress votes’

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint on Tuesday seeking to stop what it called a Koch brothers-funded scheme to suppress Democratic votes in upcoming Republican recall elections.

Politico reported that Americans for Prosperity sent absentee ballots to Democrats in two Wisconsin state Senate recall districts with instructions that could render the votes ineligible.

Ballots must be received by August 9 to be counted, but the instructions say to return the paperwork two days later, by August 11.

The complaint (PDF) alleged that Americans for Prosperity "displayed a continued pattern of tampering with the electoral process in Wisconsin with elaborate, illegal and fraudulent schemes designed to suppress Democratic votes."

Americans for Prosperity was started by oil billionaires Charles and David Koch, and has been associated with the tea party movement. The Koch brothers' political action committee gave Republican Gov. Scott Walker roughly $100,000 in campaign contributions during the 2010 election.

"Scott Walker has sought the help of the corporate front group 'Americans For Prosperity,' and here they come with dirty tricks clearly meant to meddle in our elections and suppress votes against the Koch Brothers' agenda," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Monday in a statement.

"Wisconsin's election authorities must stop the black hand of the corporate special interests and their front groups who are trying to strangle democracy in our state and support the six Republican senators now facing recall," he added.

Matt Seaholm, the State Director for Americans for Prosperity, told TMJ4 that the misinformation was "just a typo."

Under Wisconsin law, preventing the delivery of absentee ballots carries a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in prison per violation

Robocalls spam WI Democrats, telling them not to vote in recall elections

By Kase Wickman/Raw Story

Today marks Wisconsin's recall election, and polls are expected to be crowded all day. The unusual nature of the election — after all, it's not often that voters are riled up enough to draw up a petition to recall their lawmakers — has confused some about procedure, and the robocalls that some in Wisconsin are reporting receiving are certainly not helping.

Local news blog WI Voices reported that registered Democrats have been receiving recorded calls, claiming to be from a Right to Life group. The recorded call instructs them that they don't need to go to the polling place to vote, saying, “You don’t need to worry. Your absentee ballot is in the mail.”

Today is the last day polling places will be open for the Democratic primary, however, so absentee ballots that have not reached their intended recipients, or completed absentee ballots that are put in the mail today will not be counted.

"This robocall is illegal activity and election fraud at its worst," WI Voices wrote. They note that the calls have been coming from phone number 703-410-3201, and warn to look out for 703 area codes.

Another Wisconsin blog, Blue Cheddar, pointed out that googling that same number brings up online complaints from people getting robocalls from "Joe the Plumber" telling them to support Scott Walker last March.

Recall elections will decide the fates of nine Wisconsin state senators in the coming weeks.

Wisconsin Democrats nearly halfway to recalling GOP state senators

By Eric W. Dolan

Almost half of the signatures needed to recall key Republican Wisconsin state senators have been collected by the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Democrats have collected over 56,000 signatures supporting a recall of eight state senators who aligned themselves with Republican Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill,The Washington Post reported.

"This morning citizens from around the state took the first steps by filing recall papers against key Republican Senators who have stood with Scott Walker and pushed his partisan power grab that will strip thousands of middle class teachers, nurses, librarians and other workers of their right to collective bargaining," theWisconsin Democratic Party said in an email two weeks ago.

Under Wisconsin law, any elected official who has served at least one year of their current term can be recalled from office. Eight Republican and eight Democratic senators are currently eligible to be recalled. Gov. Walker, who was inaugurated last January, will not be eligible for a recall until 2012.

Democrats need to collect 25 percent of the number who voted in the last gubernatorial election within 60 days of filing for recalls.

Protesters learned Sunday that Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper's wife reportedly intends to sign the recall petition against him.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) has vowed to defend the state senators and Republicans have launched their own recall campaign against eight Democratic state senators, but haverefused to reveal the amount of signatures they’ve collected.

Republicans currently have a 19 to 14 majority in the Wisconsin Senate.