Dan Kapanke recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2011)

Dan Kapanke
Senators Facing Recall
Robert Cowles • Alberta Darling • Sheila Harsdorf • Dave Hansen • Jim Holperin • Randy Hopper • Dan Kapanke • Luther Olsen • Robert Wirch
Other Recall Information
Recalls by Year • Recall Law in Wisconsin • Recall laws in other states • Recalls in Wisconsin • 2011 Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill • Protests over Budget Repair Bill • Wisconsin Government Accountability Board • Election Results

A campaign to recall Dan Kapanke, a member of the Republican Party, from his elected position representing District 32 in the Wisconsin State Senate took place in 2011.

The recall effort was a consequence of Kapanke's vote in favor of the Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill. Out of the 9 senators who faced recall, Kapanke was generally rated as most likely to be removed from office.

He lost to Jennifer Shilling in the recall election on August 9, 2011.

Path to ballot

Needing 15,588 signatures to force a recall, petitioners submitted an estimated 30,000 signatures to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on April 1, 2011., The signatures submitted to recall Kapanke were the first set of signatures submitted in the overall recall battle.

On May 9, the Board validated 21,868 signatures on the petition, a sufficient number for a recall. Kapanke challenged the petition's validity for missing paperwork and over 900 individual signatures. The Board heard arguments on May 23, and, following GAB staff recommendations that the recall be approved, rejected most of the challenges, verifying 21,776 signatures.. This cleared the way for a recall election to be held July 12. The Board officially certified the recall against all six Republican on June 3, effectively setting the election July 12. Since there was more than one opposing candidate, however, a primary took place on July 12, with the recall on August 9.

Opponents

• Jennifer Shilling

In April, Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Shilling announced she would run against Kapanke in a recall.

Location of District 32 in Wisconsin

Map of Wisconsin State Senate District 32

Spoiler candidate

At a meeting on May 25, La Crosse County Republicans considered running a spoiler candidate against Shilling in order to necessitate a primary and push back the recall election. The La Crosse Tribune, who obtained a secret recording of the meeting, broke the story. The discussion occurred before Kapanke arrived at the meeting and his campaign said they were not involved in discussions of running a Democratic candidate.

In another secret recording obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Kapanke told the audience he had to overcome the amount of public employees in his district, stating, "We’ve got tons of government workers in my district - tons. From La Crosse to Prairie du Chien and to Viroqua and to Ontario and to Hillsboro, you can go on and on and on. We have to overcome that. We gotta hope that they, kind of, are sleeping on July 12th - or whenever the (election) date is."

La Crosse County Republican Party Chair Bill Feehan said he met with an attorney and was going to file suit against the person who made the recording. Under Wisconsin law it is legal to record a conversation if one party gives consent. Feehan says that early on during the meeting party vice chairman Julian Bradley said the meeting should not be recorded and, therefore, the person who did so broke the law.

On June 7, James Smith, a recent member of the La Crosse County Republican executive committee, announced he was running as a protest candidate in the 32nd District. He explained his candidacy - “I want to bring light on the issue that 22,000 signatures can pretty much overturn an election where even the loser got 40,000 votes.” Shilling’s campaign declined to comment on his candidacy.

July 12 Democratic Primary

Shilling easily defeated Smith in the primary.

July 12 Democratic primary
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Jennifer Shilling a		25,340	70.19%
James Smith		10,664	29.54%
Scattering		98	0.27%

August 9 recall

Shilling defeated Kapanke in the recall.

August 9 Recall - District 32
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Jennifer Shilling (D)		33,193	55.38%
Dan Kapanke (R)		26,724	44.58%
Scattering		25	.04%

Petition challenged

Kapanke challenged all of the signatures on the recall petition on April 15, saying organizers failed to follow proper procedures. He said that the same person or entity had to register with the state as well as file a statement of intent to circulate the petitions. Patrick Scheller, organizer of the recall campaign, filed a statement, but did not file with the state. The Committee to Recall Kapanke registered with the state, but didn't file the petition circulation statement.

At a meeting of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on May 23, the Board rejected the challenge, citing a staff memo which states that the two documents must be attached when filed.

Legal challenges

Attorneys for Kapanke, Luther Olsen, and Randy Hopper filed petitions in Dane County Court on May 31 seeking to stop the recall elections against them. Their argument was based on improperly filed paperwork, similar to the argument they previously used before the GAB and saw rejected. The court petitions alleged that recall petitioners did not correctly register with the GAB and thus the 60-day period to collect signatures did not start, meaning every signature collected was "dated outside the circulation period" and therefore invalid.

On June 7, Alberta Darling, Sheila Harsdorf, and Robert Cowles joined their fellow Republicans in filing suit against the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in Dane County Circuit Court. Their lawsuits alleged that signatures on the recall petitions were invalid because of improperly filed paperwork. Jeremy Levinson, attorney for the Democrats, filed motions with the court on June 14, asking them to throw out the Republican's "meritless" challenges.

After hearing arguments on July 8, Judge Richard Niess ruled that all of the nine recalls should proceed, saying that election officials had already thoroughly and correctly addressed the complaints.

Polling

Conducted June 23-26

August 9, 2011 Recall - District 32 - Daily Kos/PPP Poll
Candidate	Party	Percent
Jennifer Shilling	Democratic	56%
Dan Kapanke	Republican	42%
Undecided		3%

Conducted August 5-7

August 9, 2011 Recall - District 32 - Daily Kos/PPP Poll
Candidate	Party	Percent
Jennifer Shilling	Democratic	54%
Dan Kapanke	Republican	43%
Undecided		3%

Campaign contributions

Candidate fundraising

On June 7, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed campaign finance charges against Kapanke for failing to disclose occupation and employer information about campaign contributions. Kapanke’s campaign report covering January 1 to April 18 was found to be missing employer information on 12 contributions totaling $6,150.

Dan Kapanke Campaign Finance Reports (GAB ID No. 103851)
Report		Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions	(Expenditures)	Cash on Hand
Special Pre-Election		August 1, 2011	$123,824.36	$156,467.53	$(231,912.03)	$48,379.86
July Continuing		July 5, 2011	$108,502.09	$63,386.00	$(48,063.73)	$123,824.36
Special Pre-Primary		July 5, 2011	$99,061.24	$482,217.64	$(472,776.79)	$108,502.09
Special Pre-Election		April 25, 2011	$46,204.50	$141,145.85	$(88,289.11)	$99,061.24
Spring Pre-Election		April 15, 2011	$9,143.53	$39,163.99	$(2,103.02)	$46,204.50

The following political action committees made donations to Dan Kapanke:

IFAPAC Wisconsin Operating Engineers 139 PAC Wisconsin Insurance Alliance PAC

Official reports

• Spring Pre-Election Report April 15, 2011
• Special Pre-Election Report April 25, 2011
• Special Pre-Primary Report July 5, 2011
• July Continuing Report July 5, 2011
• Special Pre-Election August 1, 2011

Recall committees

As of the April 25, 2011 filing, the Committee to Recall Kapanke has spent and raised $17,987.42.

Committee to Recall Kapanke Campaign Finance Reports (GAB ID No. 600016)
Report		Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions	(Expenditures)	Cash on Hand
Special Pre-Election		April 6, 2011	$0.00	$2,812.29	$(2,812.29)	$0.00
Spring Pre-Election		March 28, 2011	$0.00	$15,175.13	$(15,175.13)	$0.00

Additional reading

• Wisconsin Government Accountability Board May 23, 2011 meeting materials
• Kapanke v. GAB - filed May 31, 2011
• Recall of Senator Dan Kapanke Certificate of Sufficiency and Order - June 3, 2011

Official documents

The following documents are attributed to the Kapanke recall and have been publicized by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

• Recall Campaign Registration Statement
• Statement of Intent
• Letter to Committee to Recall Kapanke
• Letter to Sen. Kapanke giving Notice of Recall
• Sen. Kapanke Challenges to Recall Petition
• Petition Rebuttal
• Sen. Kapanke's Reply to Petitioner's Rebuttal
• Recall Petition Verification - Kapanke
• Notice to Recall Committee - 2nd Review Completed
• Notice to Officeholder - 2nd Review Completed

Petitions

• Pages 1-100
• 101-200
• 201-300
• 301-400
• 401-500
• 501-600
• 601-700
• 701-800
• 801-900
• 901-1000
• 1001-1100
• 1101-1200
• 1201-1300
• 1301-1400
• 1401-1500
• 1501-1600
• 1601-1700
• 1701-1800
• 1801-1900
• 1901-2000
• 2001-2100
• 2101-2200
• 2201-2300
• 2301-2400
• 2401-2500
• 2501-2600
• 2601-2700
• 2701-2800
• 2801-2900
• 2901-2965

See also

• Recall of Wisconsin State Senators (2011)
• State legislative recalls
• Recall campaigns in Wisconsin
• Laws governing recall in Wisconsin

External links

• Recall Dan Kapanke
• Dan Kapanke recall Facebook page
• Kapanke's challenge to recall petitions
• 'Shilling for State Senate Facebook Page