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An effort to recall Republican Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker over his contentious union rights law will begin
Nov. 15, Democrats announced Monday, meaning an election could be
held as early as next spring.


      Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said on the
party's website that recall petitions will be circulated starting
Nov. 15, giving supporters of the effort until Jan. 17 to collect
540,208 signatures.


      Walker has become a national hero to many Republicans and
conservatives and is a hot ticket on the fundraising and speaking
circuit. But he is the top target for unions and Democrats as he
became the face of the anti-union movement this year with his
proposal that took away nearly all collective bargaining rights
from most public workers.


      "It has become clearer than ever that the people of Wisconsin -
the traditions and institutions of our great state - cannot endure
any more of Scott Walker's abuses. To preserve Wisconsin, we must
begin the recall of Walker as soon as possible," Tate said in a
statement on the website.


      Two Republican state senators who voted for the law lost recall
elections this summer, while four other Republicans and three
Democrats survived recalls. The nine elections attracted $44
million in spending from national unions, conservative groups and
others.


      Tate said Tuesday that in the 17 hours since the recall timeline
was announced, more than $60,000 was raised.


      Under Wisconsin law, a recall can't be started until a year
after the officeholder was inaugurated. Walker was inaugurated on
Jan. 3, which made Nov. 4 the soonest the recall effort could
begin.


      A coalition called United Wisconsin is leading the Walker recall
effort and has collected pledges from more than 200,000 people to
sign recall petitions. United Wisconsin said in a Tuesday press
release that it would be opening offices statewide and enlisting
volunteers with the goal to collect at least 700,000 signatures.


      Former state Democratic Party executive director Meagan Mahaffey
did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.


      The Republican Party of Wisconsin said it welcomed the recall
effort.


      "Wisconsin school districts and local municipalities have saved
millions of taxpayer dollars thanks to the Governor's reforms, and
we welcome and encourage a comparison between the positive results
we're seeing around the state and the failed policies of the past
favored by those seeking a recall," Stephan Thompson, the state
GOP's executive director, said in a statement.


      Tate's statement accused Walker of being "dishonest with the
people of Wisconsin" when he ran for governor.


      "Soon after he took office, he proposed a radical change to
state law by trying to take away state workers' rights to
collective bargaining which he never mentioned once during the
campaign," Tate said. "We cannot sit back and allow Scott Walker
to continue to dismantle our education system, run our government
as an auxiliary of corporate special interests, put our clean air
and water at risk, and ignore an unemployment crisis that his
policies exacerbated."


      There have only been two successful gubernatorial recall
elections in U.S. history. The first was in 1921 in North Dakota
and the other was when California Gov. Gray Davis was removed from
office in 2003.


      In Wisconsin, once recall backers file the required paperwork to
start collecting signatures, they have 60 days to return the
540,208 required to trigger the election. If the effort starts on
Nov. 15, the deadline for supporters to turn in petitions would be
Jan. 17, according to Government Accountability Board spokesman
Reid Magney.


      Once signatures are submitted to the board, it has 31 days to
review them. It will likely seek an extension to review the large
number or signatures, similar to one it received for the recalls
targeting state senators.


      Legal fights could also delay any election.


      If the board certifies the signatures, the recall election must
be held six Tuesdays from that date. If more than two candidates
from one party run, that election would be the primary. A general
election would be four weeks after that.


      With no delays, the soonest the election could take place is
March 27. And if that is a primary, the general election would be
April 24.


      "It is not possible to say with any certainty when the election
would be, especially to say it could be in conjunction with any
existing election," Magney said. "There are many aspects of the
process that would make it difficult to do that because of the
unpredictability of the timelines."


      No Democrat has announced plans to run against Walker. People
mentioned as potential candidates include U.S. Rep. Ron Kind of La
Crosse, former U.S. Rep. Dave Obey of Wausau, Assembly Minority
Leader Peter Barca of Kenosha, state Sen. Jon Erpenbach of
Waunakee, and former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.


      Barca praised the recall effort, but did not comment on whether
he would be a candidate. Kind's spokesman had no comment. Erpenbach
did not immediately return a message. Obey could not immediately be
reached. Falk's spokeswoman Melissa Mulliken said Falk would be
open to running but did not elaborate.


      Tate did not say whether the recall would target both Walker and
Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. The Government Accountability Board has
requested an opinion from the attorney general's office on how a
recall against the governor would affect the lieutenant governor.
Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run on the same
ticket in Wisconsin.

      Wisconsin has four previously scheduled elections next year: the
spring primary on Feb. 21, the spring election and presidential
primary on April 3, the fall primary on Sept. 11 and the fall
general election on Nov. 6.

Gallery

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Politics and Government News

An effort to recall Republican Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker over his contentious union rights law will begin
Nov. 15, Democrats announced Monday, meaning an election could be
held as early as next spring.


Recall effort targeting Wis. governor to launch

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