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Wisconsin Republicans spoil Democrats’ recall fun.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  June 9th, 2011 at 09:45 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

There is an interesting thing about the Wisconsin recall process.  Essentially, if you read the document regulating it you will discover that the designation of a particular date for a recall election assumes that there was no primary; if there is a primary, it occurs on that date, with the general election taking place a month afterward.  Also of note… political parties do not have veto power over who can participate in a recall primary.  The restrictions are that the candidate be a non-felon voter and resident of Wisconsin who presents a valid petition with at least 400 signatures; said signatures have to be themselves registered voters of the district in which the candidate is running.  The kicker?  None of these people have to belong to the political party in question.

I hope that you can see where this is going.

Republicans have found a spoiler candidate to challenge Rep. Jennifer Shilling in this summer’s recall election, which would force a Democratic primary and extend the campaign by nearly a month.

James Smith, until recently a member of the La Crosse County GOP’s executive committee, says he is running as a protest candidate.

Believe you me, the Wisconsin Republican party is going to be able to find four hundred voters per incumbent state Senate District who will be willing to ruin the Democrats’ day by forcing a primary. The only restriction on these voters would be that they can’t sign anybody else’s nominating petition – which doesn’t matter in GOP-held districts; the incumbent automatically is on the ballot – and since the system was deliberately set up so that the major parties couldn’t interfere with it too much*, court challenges will be… tricky.  So, barring further developments, it looks like the recall elections will be delayed until August.

Which is of course the goal.  The longer this process goes on, the harder it gets for Democrats to artificially stimulate the necessary outrage and resentment necessary for a successful recall effort.  Already the vaunted faux-populist revolt in Madison has shriveled to a fragment of itself; sure, the Democrats can later try to re-inflate that particular balloon, but there’s always been a severe upper limit to how much popular support the Left can demonstrate on the issues.  Personally, I’d recommend that the Democrats just dropped the recall subject entirely, but that’s because I’m kind of sadistic and I know what progressives would do to them for doing that (particularly after the Left fell on its face with Kloppenburg’s supreme court non-election).

All in all: live by manipulation of governmental procedures, die by them.  The Democrats have no room to complain about their enemies using a procedural maneuver against them… although they will complain, of course.  They’re good at that.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Think about it for a moment and you’ll realize why.

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COMMENTS

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  • steve010

    if the (R) is on the ballot for the (D)s that the (R) could win the primary. Next question is who gets to vote in the primary? Is it a all comers primary? or only for registered (D)s? I would guess in WI that it would be a all comers primary.

  • dmartin

    The Republicans could actually pull off a win for their candidate in a Democrat primary….

  • proudgop

    I want us all to fight for those Republicans facing recalls and the republican who run against the Dem

    we must keep control of State Senate

    I also found this yesterday that the unions protested the Special Olympics yesterday in Madison. I am sick to my stomach over it

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcuqM1LEi5c

  • johnt

    & they wouldn’t lie. Turnabout is sooooo sweet. Trash riot in the Wisconsin capitol, other trash flee the state & hide, a woman who claims victory with 200 votes does a ludicrous recount over 7,200 votes. spoilers?, like the Dems in upstate NY? And they whine, & over something which is at least legal.
    The disturbing part about it is they see no contradictions. That’s how derangement works.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Wisconsin has open primaries, but I don’t know what the rule is for special elections or recall elections.

  • steve010

    which kinds of makes sense because the WI recall law reads to me anyway that the recall law is there to remove a public figure who has done something against the law. Really, probably there to remove a public figure who is in jail. None of these senators have done anything against the law, just voted for bill that some marxists didn’t like.

    So, if the law is there to remove a public figure who is in jail, it doesn’t really matter who gets elected, just somebody other than the public figure who is in jail. The recall law really isn’t about party politics.

  • tamib

    Not living in Wisconsin, I’m left with the news media and online sources to update me on the shenanigans of WI progressives and how the WIGOP is handling the issues. I certainly hope the GOP and local conservative groups are not shying away from using liberal protests against them;. like yesterday’s disgusting and hateful gathering of progressives at the Capital in Madison.

    Wisconsin union members protested Gov. Walker during yesterdays speaking engagement at the capital. The event? A once a year day set aside to honor the athletes of the Special Olympics. Dressed as zombies, union members held signs, stood in-front of the athletes blocking their view, while loudly proclaiming “shame, shame, shame” as Gov. Walker took the stage. The only thing shameful about the event was the lefts obvious hatred for the handicapped.

    This is the second time progressives in Wisconsin have protested the Special Olympics. During what was described a “mistake in scheduling” protesters flooded the WI House protesting the bi-partisan passage of a bill extending the tax-exempt status for the Special Olympics. When organizers of the protests where asked why they would protest passage of such a bill, they went on the record stating there had been an error, the bills passage was not supposed to have been protested. After yesterday, does anyone believe that excuse?

    Pushing any recall elections to August not only decreases the chances of WI progressives to move people to their side. There is also a huge opportunity for Republicans to show the citizens of their state exactly what progressives really stand for. I hope they use the time well.

  • earlgrey

    nt.

  • freemanja1991

    If these are open primaries, and then it would be nice to see a republican vs republican in a recall so essentially pointless for the left.

  • pantera

    can they recall all the dems also?

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil truth

    So the game’s afoot. At present, their elections are scheduled for July 19.

    I still think the GOP should petition the courts for a common recall date, but it’s better still if we can force primaries and challenges, to gum up the works, especially if we can scatter the recall dates all over the calendar.

    The key point beyond winning the elections is to prevent the recall from turning into a referendum (actual or perceived). The press will be hard pressed to push the referendum meme if there are all sorts of dates.

  • freemanja1991

    there are benefits to scattered and same day

  • steve010

    If it was me, I would focus right in on the clause in the recall law that mentions that there has to be a “good reason” for the petition for recall. I know this is kind of vague which would mean that they could delay the recall elections for a long time.

    The recall law has only been used a few times and only for wayward public officials. Elected officials who have committed felonies. I would try to make a good case as to what the law is intended for which is only to remove felonious elected officials and not elected officials who have done no wrongdoing.

  • flannery

    in the traditinal sense of a Republican selected canidate runs against a Democrat selection. It is a race to determine if the current office holder remains in place.

    Many states settle this issue with a two step process, first a yes/no vote on recall and removal of the incumbent. If that is successful a special election to fill the remainder of the term is held. Wisconsin does it differently.

    If a sufficient number of voters sign a recall petition within a limited period of time, the incumbent is forced to run for his/her office against a challenger. If more than one person files to be the challenger, then a primary is held amongst the potential challengers with the winner facing the incumbent.

    There is no requirement that the challenger be from the political party that is different from that of the incumbent. In fact, because the recall law was envisioned to remove clearly wrong doing incumbents, a member of the incumbent’s political party would be an obvious successor.

    If a Republican representative in an 80% Republican district was convicted of bumping over a bank, the recall law would not require that the only choices available to the electorate are keeping the felon or electing a Democrat. Both Republican and Democrat challengers run in a single primary and the winner then faces the incumbent.

  • carolina

    The more obnoxious protests the progressives hold at the capitol (on top of their ‘tent city’) – the more voters might want to deliver a message.

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil truth

    Since it looks like a rather short time frame from certification to election, about 5-1/2 weeks, and since the challengers obviously can’t file before the petitions are certified, what is the time frame for challengers to obtain their signatures and get on the ballot (either primary or uncontested). And do they get to start early, or do they not get to start collecting signatures until after certification.

    In other words, if Republicans want to enter the recall primary where the incumbent is a their fellow Republican, how much time do they have to collect signatures and file them with the appropriate authorities.

    Especially since the politician under recall won’t know until that filing period closes whether he faces a vote then, or first gets to wait out the primary.

    Of course, the meta-issue is that recall was meant for dealing with malfeasance in office, not as a proxy referendum or retaliation for a particular vote, which is why the procedures don’t fit very well with the current situation.

  • bk

    Spring classes ended mid-May; Fall starts beginning of September. So June and August would both be during their summer recess. Unless it’s pushed to end of August most UW students would be wherever they hang out during the summer. This is better than if they were on campus, where it would be easier to bus them to protests during the school year.

  • shadowtax

    The recall election process should not be the proprietary procedure of the socialist/labor left. If a GOP state senator is standing for recall, there can be many reasons to replace him. Therefore it is justified for candidates of all persuasions to run in the primary. A Democrat would seek to ouster the GOP incumbent for obvious reasons, but perhaps the Tea Party folks have other reasons and their own candidate. Why not have that fight in the primary?

    If the final recall election is going to be only two candidates, there should be a primary open to all. Now if I am wrong, then the GOP only needs to field a challenger against their own candidate in a GOP primary to buy extra time.

    If a recall election is a multi candidate race, it would defeat the purpose because the incumbent could retain the seat by plurality, it only makes sense to have one candidate as a challenger.