Yesterday was the final date for recalling all 8 eligible Republican State Senators. 6 were successfully submitted, but the last 2 (Mary Lazich and Glen Grothman) failed to achieve the number of signatures required. I was among many volunteers who canvassed extensively this past weekend to try to achieve that goal. What is surprising is that the recall of Mary Lazich came very close to the goal with Grothmans about 80% of the requirement. Both are in very Republican districts, but it was well worth the effort to try.
There is still some time for the recall of 3 remaining Democratic State Senators (3 have already been filed with some of the most messy and challengable petitions most have ever seen - e.g. deceased people signing). Tomorrow is the deadline for filing against Mark Miller and May 16 against Julie Lassa and Dave Hansen. We'll have to wait and see if their paid signature gatherers submit any more and still waiting to see if the 3 already submitted are valid enough to lead to a special election.
Recall groups are now changing focusto the recruitment of volunteers for the recall of Scott Walker. They want to be ready to hit the ground as soon as Walker is eligible for recall.
The Walker Recall will be different from the previous recalls because every eligible voter in the state can sign a recall petition (the previous State Senate recalls targeted only voters in the specific Senate district). This means that everyone in the Milwaukee, Madison, and other Democratic areas will be eligible to sign the recall petitions. Many more signatures will be required for a statewide recall (25% of the turnout from the last election) than for the State Senate recalls, but those signatures can be gathered anywhere in the state.
Despite keeping his head down lately, Walker remains unpopular. His 2 year budget proposal is currently having public hearings throughout the state. If passed, it would be devastating to local economies, the vulnerable, and working people, but really good news for corporations and the already entitled. It is being met by opposition everywhere.
So, if you are in Wisconsin, please volunteer here for the Walker Recall. You can also volunteer for the campaigns of candidates who have already announced to run against the recalled Republicans while you are waiting to recall Walker.
If you're not in Wisconsin, you can donate to these efforts through the same site. Remember, we only need to win 3 of these elections to overturn the Republican majority in the State Senate and restore some sanity to our government.
Sorry to diary and run, but I'm heading back to the Kloppenburg recount in Milwaukee County. I'll be back after I'm done there to check and reply to comments. Thanks for all of your interest and support.
Update: My Day Didn't Go As Planned Edition: I'm back early having been intercepted for an urgent family matter. All better now, but I missed getting to the Kloppenburg recount. There have been a good number of volunteers so far (Prossers observers are far less numerous), so I'm hoping I wasn't missed much. So I'm off to read your input.
Update: OMG Edition: My personal thanks to cassandracarolina for sending me a gift subscription. I've wanted a subscription for so long, but was never able to consider such a luxury. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the message.