In Wisconsin, Six Republicans and Zero Democrats Face Recall Elections

Greg Sargent wrote the following in the Washington Post blog The Plum Line:

Conservatives and some political observers are making a big deal out of the fact that the Dem candidate in the closely watched state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin finally conceded defeat today, as had long been expected.

But surely it’s also a big deal that we now know for certain that six Wisconsin Republican state senators will officially face recall elections, while a grand total of zero Democrats may face the same?

Today the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board announced that they have now approved the signatures required for recall elections against the following six GOP senators: Rob Cowles, Alberta Darling, Sheila Harsdorf, Randy Hopper, Dan Kapanke, and Luther Olsen. That means these six elections are definitely moving forward.

Meanwhile, the board has also announced that they are not prepared to approve the signatures gathered by Republicans for the recall of their three Democratic targets. Dems have alleged that the signature gathering by Republicans is fraudulent, and now the board has explicitly claimed that their reason for not approving the recall elections against Dems is that the signatures “have raised numerous factual and legal issues which need to be investigated and analyzed.”

What does that mean?  While the signatures have been verified for the recall of six Republicans, the signatures gathered by the Republicans appear to be questionable, which is ironic considering conservatives constantly cry voter fraud when they don't win. 

Sargent also is keen to point out that the Government Accountability Board had requested from the state legislature funds to help evaluate the collected signatures and facilitate the recall elections, but the legislature has not responded to those requests, with one possibility for their silence being the Joint Committee On Finance - the committee that would be responsible for releasing those funds - contains four of the six targeted Republicans.

While news regarding the politics of Wisconsin seems to have faded from the national spotlight, and conservatives claiming victory, insisting apathy among liberals is partially to blame for the lack of headlines, this news seems to prove otherwise - opposition to the Republican-controlled government is alive and well, and even if the Republicans are to get their signatures certified, they will face an uphill battle.