Scott Walker recall, Wisconsin (2012)

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An effort to recall Scott Walker, a Republican elected in 2010, from his position as the Governor of Wisconsin was launched in November 2011. Walker will face Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) and independent candidate Hariprasad "Hari" Trivedi in the recall on June 5, 2012. A primary election took place May 8.

Supporters of the recall submitted over 1 million signatures on January 17, 2012, in order to qualify the recall question for the ballot - at least 540,208 had to be valid in order to force a recall election.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board certified just over 900,000 signatures on March 30 and scheduled a primary on May 8 and general election on June 5.

Only two governors in history have been recalled - North Dakota Governor Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California Governor Gray Davis (D) in 2003.

Democrats targeted Walker for recall due to his efforts to limit the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions through Wisconsin Assembly Bill 11, the "Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill", which the governor introduced in February 2011. The bill was immediately met with widescale protests.

Democrats would have likely have gone after him sooner, but under Wisconsin law incumbents are not eligible for recall until they have been in office for a year. The period to begin circulating recall petitions began November 4, 2011, but Democrats waited until November 15 to begin their efforts.

Path to the ballot

David Brandt, a Walker supporter, submitted the first recall petition on November 4, 2011 on behalf of the "Close Friends to Recall Walker" committee. Democrats denounced the move as a Republican tactic - once the petition was filed Walker could legally begin collecting unlimited campaign donations for the recall. United Wisconsin, under the name the Committee to Recall Walker, filed their petition on November 15. Brandt terminated the registration of his group prior to it's January 3, 2012 deadline to turn in petitions.

United Wisconsin spokeswoman Meagan Mahaffey said organizers collected 50,000 signatures in the first 48 hours of the campaign. The group said they collected 105,000 signatures in the first four days. On November 28, organizers said they reached 300,000 signatures - more than half the number necessary.

A third recall petition was filed against Walker by a group calling itself Wisconsin Common Sense Citizens for Accountability and Recall aka Recall Walker Political Action Committee on November 18, 2011. Randy Bryce, treasurer of the Walker Recall PAC, said they were specifically targeting Republicans and Independents and hoped to work with United Wisconsin. "If they don't have enough and they need some more, well, here you go. It's kind of like an insurance policy," he said.

Walker's campaign has been in full swing since the effort began. At a meeting of the Republican Governors Association in late November 2011 he said, "Do I take the recall seriously? Absolutely. Unions spent $40 million on six state Senate recall elections in my state. I spent $13 million running for governor. So if there's that much outside influence, I'm going to take that seriously no matter what."

On December 15, organizers announced they had collected over 507,000 signatures and had a new goal of 720,277 signatures, a third of the votes cast in the 2010 gubernatorial election.

Organizers said they submitted over 1 million signatures on January 17, 2012. The process to validate the signatures was expected to take several months. Finally, on March 30, GAB officially scheduled the recall, unanimously certifying over 900,000 of the signatures.

Signature verification

Under state law, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board initially had 31 days to determine if enough valid signatures were submitted to force a recall. However, with 1.9 million signatures to review for six recalls, they asked a judge for extra time on January 20, 2012. Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess granted the extension on January 25, giving the board an additional 30 days and a deadline of March 19.

The state purchased software from Artsyl Technologies to help with the process. Workers scanned the petitions into computers and the software read the names and converted them into type. A human operator verified the name, correcting any errors before it was entered into a database. The databases could then be used to check for duplicate signatures.

The petitions were processed in a secret location, but a webcam was set up to provide a live feed of the work.

Under state law, Walker had only 10 days to challenge the validity of the petitions starting on January 18. However, as GAB officials were not able to readily provide Walker with the signatures against him, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess extended the period to 30 days from when Walker received the full petitions. GAB delivered the petitions to Walker on January 27 and the 30-day window to challenge began the next day, giving him until February 27 to file a challenge.

On February 13, Walker's campaign said they would be unable to evaluate the signatures in time and asked the court for another two weeks. The court filing stated, "The time needed to search for duplicates, as well as to provide a factual basis for objections to more than 100,000 signatures, cannot be met within the existing time limits." If approved the deadline for Walker to submit a challenge would have moved from February 27 to March 12, which Democrats said would delay a recall election. On February 17, the request was denied, leaving the deadline as February 27. On the day of the deadline, Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said they were only able to evaluate about 400,000 of the signatures and that they would be unable to file a challenge.

Walker asked the GAB to review a challenge of the signatures conducted by two Tea Party groups, but GAB officials said state law does not allow them to consider challenges by third-parties. However, GAB spokesman Reid Magney did say they would look at such challenges "for any potential fraud they uncover. But we cannot consider it as a challenge under state law."

Petitions posted online

GAB had originally announced it would post the scanned petitions to its website on January 30, but delayed that action after hearing concerns from a stalking victim and others who did not want their names released. In the past GAB had treated petitions as public records. Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said GAB should simply block the names of people with genuine safety concerns, such as victims of domestic violence, from the public, rather than blocking all the signatures.

The Board issued a statement simply saying, “GAB staff is evaluating the privacy concerns of individuals who have contacted us about posting the petitions online.” It did not say when a decision would be made, but ultimately posted all petitions to its website late on January 31. GAB Director Kevin Kennedy issued an analysis, saying, "No expectation of privacy is implied or justified under the statutes when an individual chooses to sign a public recall petition rather than simply expressing that conviction in the privacy of the voting booth."

Opponents

Walker will face Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) and independent candidate Hariprasad "Hari" Trivedi in the recall on June 5, 2012.

Republicans

• Arthur Kohl-Riggs ran as a fake Republican in order to force Walker into a primary, which Walker easily won.

Wisconsin Governor Recall - Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Scott Walker Incumbent	96.9%	626,962
Arthur Kohl-Riggs	3.1%	19,939
Patrick J. O'Brien (Write-In)	0%	17
Scattering	0%	204
Total Votes		647,122
Election Results Via: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

Democrats

• Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk (D) officially announced her campaign on January 18, 2012, the day after the recall petitions were submitted.
• State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D) officially announced that she would run on February 8, 2012.
• Secretary of State Doug La Follette said in late December that he was considering running, noting his statewide position gave him name recognition. He filed paperwork to run on February 23, 2012, and officially declared his campaign on March 28.
• Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett officially entered the race March 30, 2012. Barrett lost to Walker in the 2010 race for governor. Leaders from the Wisconsin Education Association Council and the Wisconsin State Employees Union reportedly sought to discourage Barrett from running in late 2011. Following the exchange, it appeared that Barrett was more likely to run, with two sources close to the mayor saying that he was "seriously considering" a run.
• Gladys Huber is actually a Republican but ran as a Democrat as a "protest" candidate.

Wisconsin Governor Recall - Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tom Barrett	58.1%	390,191
Kathleen Falk	34.1%	229,236
Kathleen Vinehout	4%	26,967
Doug La Follette	2.9%	19,497
Gladys Huber	0.7%	4,847
Scattering	0.1%	864
Total Votes		671,602
Election Results Via: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

Independent

• Hariprasad "Hari" Trivedi, a physician and kidney specialist, is running as an independent. He announced his intentions in ads run before and after the Super Bowl.

Did not run

Names floated as possible candidates that did not run include:

• U.S. Rep. Ron Kind
• Republican Patrick O'Brien said he planned to challenge Walker in a primary. O'Brien voted for Walker in the last election, but said, "I thought he was running as a brown-bag Republican. What we were getting was a brown-shirt Republican."
• Tim Sullivan, former CEO of Bucyrus International, said in mid-November that he was not interested in running. Some moderates thought he would be a good independent candidate. “I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of what is turning into one big mess now,” Sullivan said.
• Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold. At a rally on November 19, Feingold signed a petition, pledged to help the effort through his PAC, but stated he would not run. “There will be a new governor in a few months, it won’t be me, but it will be somebody good,” he said.
• U.S. Senator Herb Kohl
• State Sen. Tim Cullen initially was running. He stated, "I think I would be a very serious opponent for Gov. Walker to have to face, because of my record, my career, my view of how government should operate around here.". However, on February 1, 2012, Cullen said he was withdrawing from the race, citing fundraising and the negative nature of the recall.
• State Rep. Peter Barca initially considered running, but announced on March 31, 2012 that he was not running, choosing instead to stay in the Assembly.
• Wisconsin Firefighters Union President Mahlon Mitchell was suggested as a candidate. He instead chose to run for the Lt. Governor post in the recall of Rebecca Kleefisch.
• State Sen. Jon Erpenbach declined to run in early April, endorsing Tom Barrett.
• Former U.S. Representative Dave Obey was thought to be interested in the race but did not run, choosing instead to endorse Tom Barrett.
• Republican Michael Mangan filed to run but did not have enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

Legal issues

Gov. & Lt. Gov. recalled together?

An opinion issued November 3, 2011 by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen found that, although they run on the same ticket, a recall targeting the governor would not automatically include the Lieutenant Governor. In order to recall both officials, separate petitions would have to be submitted, with separate recall elections held. Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said they still planned to target both.

Walker lawsuit

On December 15, Walker's campaign and the state Republican Party director filed suit against the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in Waukesha County Circuit Court. The lawsuit asked that a judge require GAB to search for and strike duplicate signatures, fake names and illegible addresses.

Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state Republican Party, stated, "The decision of one individual who chooses to sign a recall petition should not carry more weight than the decision of another who chooses not to sign. This lawsuit seeks to protect the Wisconsin electors whose voices have been trumped by those purposefully signing multiple petitions."

Currently, GAB reviews signatures to ensure there are enough to trigger a recall and verify they include a Wisconsin address and are dated during the recall period. It is up to challengers to point out potential issues with signatures.

On December 20, The Recall Walker Committee, as well as the committees to recall Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and three Republican state senators, filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss the suit. They argued that the suit was designed to create uncertainty, disruptions and expenses in the recall process. At a hearing on December 29, Judge Mac Davis, a former Republican state Senator, denied the motion to intervene, citing the need for speed and desire to avoid possible "chaos" that could come if new parties were allowed in the case.

Davis issued a ruling on January 5, 2012 stating that GAB must take "reasonable" actions to eliminate duplicate and illegal signatures from recall petitions. However, he gave them discretion to decide how to achieve that, noting that requiring such action "is limited by the resources and ability they have or are reasonably able to obtain." GAB Director Kevin Kennedy said they will have to discuss the decision in order to determine what procedures in their process they will need to change.

On February 3, the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Madison overturned the ruling that denied recall organizers from joining the suit, stating that they had a valid interest to join. The ruling also threw out Judge Davis' decision that GAB must actively seek to strike fake and duplicate signatures. The case then went back to Davis.

Cost of recall

"The Value of a Signature" video by Kleefisch, released the day the recall campaign began

In a November 15, 2011 video called "The Value of a Signature," Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch stated a statewide recall election would cost "$7.7 million - $7.7 million that may already be allocated to merit raises for teachers or health care for the poor or school books for your kids."

A PolitiFact analysis released November 23, 2011, rated Kleefisch's claim as "Half True." The $7.7 figure was arrived at by taking the estimated $2.1 million it cost for the 9 state senate recalls in the summer of 2011 and applying it to all 33 Senate districts. PolitiFact stated, Kleefisch’s basic math is accurate -- and her estimate might even be low." They noted, however, that she states the figure as fact, whereas it is an estimate.

PolitiFact says Kleefisch provided no evidence for the second half of her claim - that money would be used from funds already designated for school or health care. However, they noted that money for the election could potentially come from funds designated for other programs.

According to data released by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on January 6, 2012, a recall against Walker would cost at least $9 million. GAB asked election clerks around the state to estimate the costs of a possible recall election based on November 2010 and April 2011 elections. The 72 county clerks reported an estimate at $2.35 million, while municipal clerks reported $5.82 million. GAB estimated its costs at $841,349.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate acknowledged the estimate, stating, “the $9 million cost of a statewide recall election is great, but the cost of doing nothing is far greater. This undertaking is the biggest investment in the future of our state and families we can make.”

The estimates were requested by Rep. Robin Vos (R) who was seeking to limit recall elections. Vos criticized the recalls as a waste of taxpayer money, stating, "It's about time taxpayers learned the cost of these unnecessary recall elections. The citizens of Wisconsin should have known the estimated cost on local governments before a single petition was circulated. Is this how they want their valuable taxpayer dollars spent?"

Polling

Pre-primary

• Mid-November 2011: Wisconsin Public Radio-St. Norbert College poll showed 58 percent in favor of recall, up from 47 percent in April.

• January 2012: Marquette Law School poll had Walker leading all possible opponents that were included in the poll - he lead Tom Barrett 50-44 percent, Kathleen Falk 49-42 percent, David Obey 49-43 percent and Tim Cullen 50-40 percent.

• February 16-19: Marquette University poll saw 47 percent approving Walker's performance and 47 percent disapproving. 716 residents were polled.

• February 23-26: Public Policy Polling survey of 900 people saw 52 percent disapprove of Walker's job performance, while 47 percent approved. In a head-to-head match-up, challenger Kathleen Falk led Walker 48 percent to 47 percent, while Tom Barrett led Walker 49 to 46 percent.

• February 27: A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 500 likely voters found 52 percent approve at least somewhat of Walker's job performance, with 46 percent at least somewhat disapproving.

• March 22-25: A Marquette Law School poll of 370 voters likely to vote in the Democratic primary showed Walker ahead of Barrett 47 to 45 percent and ahead of Falk 49 to 45 percent, both within the 5.2 percent margin of error.

• April 13-15: Public Policy Polling of 1,136 likely voters found Walker leading all of the four Democratic challengers. Head-t0-head matchups found Walker leading Barrett 50-45 percent, leading Falk 50-43, leading La Follette 51-40 and leading Vinehout 50-38.

Post-primary

• May 9-12: Marquette Law School poll of 704 registered voters found Walker leading Barrett 50-44 percent, with 3 percent undecided. The margin of error was +/-3.8.

Money in the race

Campaign contributions

On December 15, 2011, Walker's campaign released the first campaign finance report since the beginning of the recall. It shows he raised $5.1 million, spent nearly $4 million, and had $3 million on hand.

According to an Associated Press analysis, 61 percent of the $4.1 million Walker raised during the five-week reporting period that ended in January came from out of state donors. Large donations included $250,000 from Texas financier Bob Perry and three donations from Missouri that totaled $750,000.

Friends of Scott Walker Campaign Finance Reports (GAB ID No. 0102575)
Report		Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions	(Expenditures)	Cash on Hand
Special Pre-Primary 2012 report		April 30, 2012	$2,688,601.77	$13,164,310.34	$(10,988,910.66)	$4,864,001.45
Recall 60 day report		January 23, 2012	$1,601,582.43	$2,545,041.06	$(1,458,021.72)	$2,688,601.77
January Continuing report		January 23, 2012	$3,016,472.61	$2,011,390.78	$(3,426,280.96)	$1,601,582.43
Recall 30 day report		December 15, 2011	$1,876,026.65	$5,111,478.05	$(3,969,630.09)	$3,017,874.61

Union involvement

Questions have arisen surrounding the group Wisconsin for Falk, who bought $1.6 million in TV time during March 2012 to run ads in support of Kathleen Falk's candidacy. Left-leaning publication Mother Jones described the organization as "a shadowy Wisconsin political group with a post-office box address" that "did not disclose its funders or who started the group." Wisconsin for Falk spokesman Michael Vaughn disagreed, saying the group was "a straightforward and transparent community and labor partnership."

The group has received money and support from the Wisconsin Education Association Council and the AFSCME. Some Wisconsin for Falk staff previously worked for We Are Wisconsin, the organization that led the 2011 recalls against Republican state senators.

Ads relating to the campaign

See also: FactCheck.org, "The Whole Truth in Wisconsin Air Wars - Sorting out the facts in the recall election for governor"

Lack of civility

Since the beginning, the recall campaign against Walker has been rife with negative incidents. On December 1, 2011, officials of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board and the Justice Department met with district attorneys from throughout the state to discuss how to handle all of the complaints.

Here is a partial list of incidents from the recall drive:

• On November 15, a rock with an anti-recall message was thrown through a window of the Victory Cafe in Madison that had a "Recall Walker" sign in it.
• An anonymous Facebook group called Operation Burn Notice was set up as a coordinated effort to destroy recall petitions
• Madison resident and recall volunteer Tom Peer received an anonymous death threat.
• United Wisconsin recall worker Heather DuBois Bourenane received an anonymous phone call threatening her life.
• United Education Profession in Brookfield received several threatening phone calls.
• A person tore up a petition on the Edgewood College campus
• Petition volunteers in Eau Claire claimed a clipboard with signatures on it was stolen
• A Wauwatosa resident who allowed his front yard to be used to to collect signatures was threatened with vandalism of his home
• Caldonia police received two complaints about vandalized "Recall Walker" signs.
• On December 4, a 30-year-old man was arrested in West Bend for defacing petitions. He has been charged with felony election fraud, punishable by up to 1 1/2 years in prison, two years extended supervision and a $10,000 fine.
• After appearing in a pro-Walker TV ad, teacher Kristi LaCroix received numerous threatening phone calls and emails.
• In early December, a 68-year-old woman was arrested for tearing up a Recall Walker sign.
• On December 21, GAB referred a group named "Mines for Wisconsin" to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office for investigation. The group distributed fliers encouraging people to sign petitions as "Adolf Hitler." The flier states, "Hitler was willing to destroy Germany in order to get his ideals in place. This is similar to what the recall people are doing in Wisconsin."
• A woman was arrested in River Falls in December for allegedly tipping over a table used to collect signatures, throwing it and spitting at a worker.
• Donald Rindo was ticketed for disorderly conduct and destruction of property after a confrontation with recall signature collectors on December 26. Rindo allegedly approached the recall supporters, tore up two of their signs and tried to pick a fight.

The severe partisan divide in the state has led to the creation of at least one organization seeking to restore civility to state politics. Reach Out Wisconsin describes itself as "a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fostering respect and understanding in Wisconsin politics."

Additional reading

• Judgepedia: Judge Niess denies Governor Walker's extension request, Feb. 29, 2012
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The Walker recall fight: marching off into the political unknown," October 15, 2011
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Walker recall effort kicks off," November 15, 2011
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Madison recall rally draws thousands," November 19, 2011
• The Chippewa Herald, "Our View: Recalls unnecessary despite anger," November 19, 2011
• Washington Post, "Wisconsin governor begins campaigning to keep job as recall effort sees early success," November 27, 2011
• The Nation, "Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Was for Recalls Before He Was Against Them," December 3, 2011
• NBC 15, "One Year In: Governor Walker Answers Your Questions," December 23, 2011
• Governors Journal, "Governor Of The Year – Scott Walker," December 23, 2011
• The Northwestern, "Newsmaker of the Year: All eyes on Governor Scott Walker," December 24, 2011
• LaCrosse Tribune, "Year in review: Walker reforms top story of 2011," December 31, 2011
• Recall Elections, "Wisconsin: No Roger, No Rerun, No Recall? Barrett and the unusual nature of the recall Rematch/Rerun," January 3, 2012
• Appleton Post-Crescent, "Wisconsin recall effort proves as divisive as Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining changes," January 4, 2012
• NBC Politics, "Will GOP's 2011 star survive recall in 2012?" January 5, 2012
• Appleton Post Crescent, "Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says he's not afraid to lose recall," January 6, 2012
• Governing, "Walker, Undaunted by Recall, Urges Governors to Slash State Budgets Boldly," January 6, 2012
• WISN, "Supporters Of Gov. Walker Rally Against Recall," January 7, 2012
• Fond du Lac Reporter, "Love him or hate him: Gov. Walker inspires deep disagreement," January 9, 2012
• Huffington Post, "Six things you didn't know about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker," January 11, 2012
• WBAY, "The Effort to Recall Governor Scott Walker in Review," January 15, 2012
• WTMJ, "Walker recall organizers readying submission of signatures to GAB," January 16, 2012
• WBAY, "Recall Petition Database to Launch Online," March 7, 2012
• Politico, "Scott Walker on recall: This is ‘Waterloo’," March 20, 2012

PolitiFact stories

• PolitiFact, "Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch says Kathleen Falk raised taxes by millions every year as Dane County executive," February 12, 2012
• PolitiFact, "Recall candidate Kathleen Falk says Governor Scott Walker enacted "the biggest cuts to education in our state's history"," February 19, 2012
• PolitiFact, "Dem candidate for Wisconsin governor says 85 percent of newly employed Wisconsin residents got jobs in other states," February 26, 2012
• PolitiFact, "Dem candidate for Wisconsin governor says GOP Gov. Scott Walker keeps schedule secret," March 8, 2012
• PolitiFact, "Digging into the claims in new Walker ad," March 9, 2012

Official documents

• Close Friends to Recall Walker campaign registration statement
• Committee to Recall Walker campaign registration statement
• Recall Walker PAC campaign registration statement
• All recall petitions against Walker

See also

• Recall campaigns in Wisconsin
• Political recall efforts, 2012
• Laws governing recall in Wisconsin
• Scott Walker
• Rebecca Kleefisch recall, Wisconsin (2012)
• Van Wanggaard recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)
• Terry Moulton recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)
• Pam Galloway recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)
• Scott Fitzgerald recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)
• Recall of Wisconsin State Senators (2011)

External links

• United Wisconsin to Recall Walker
• Recall Scott Walker
• Recall Scott Walker Facebook page
• Wisconsin Democratic Party - Recall Scott Walker Headquarters
• Scott Walker Watch
• Wisconsin GOP - Recall Integrity Center
• GAB - Committee to Recall Walker
• GAB - Close Friends to Recall Walker
• GAB - Wisconsin Common Sense Citizens for Accountability and Recall aka Recall Walker PAC