Utah Group Seeks to Recall Wisconsin Democratic Senators

The conservative American Recall Coalition, a group from Salt Lake City, Utah, is leading the charge to reel in eight Democratic Senators in Wisconsin who are among 14 lawmakers who left the state in protest of Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, according to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB).

The out-of-state group last week filed with the GAB website to recall the Senators, but initial filings did not have anyone from the local senatorial district as part of the recall requests.

"They didn't have any local people involved, so we contacted them and said they need to have one local person in each district," said GAB spokesman Reid Magney. "They withdrew those initial filings and made new ones and we are waiting for the signed paperwork."

Wisconsin senators targeted in the campaign are Lena Taylor, Spencer Coggs, Jim Holperin, Mark Miller, Robert Wirch, Julie Lassa, Fred Risser and Dave Hansen.

According to a Reuters report, the American Recall Coalition is also campaigning to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Arizona, who drew conservative fire last month after linking the Tucson shootings that killed 6 and seriously hurt 13 people, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, to "political vitriol, prejudice and bigotry."

The GAB's Campaign Finance Information website lists separate formal recalls for Holperin, Wirch, Hansen and Miller.

Meanwhile, organizing efforts are underway by United Wisconsin to recall Republican Senators Robert Cowles, Alberta Darling, Sheila Harsdorf, Luther Olsen, Randy Hopper, Glen Grothman, Mary Lazich, and Dan Kapanke, who favor Walker's bill.

A website, recallscottwalker.info, has been set up to gather the more than a half-million signatures needed to recall Walker next January, the earliest that a recall petition can be filed by law. United Wisconsin has also started gathering signatures to recall the embattled governor.

In a video statement Saturday, AFSCME Executive Director Marty Beil encouraged union members to take action to protect Democratic senators against recalls and said they were joining efforts to recall the Republican senators. "We are resolved and we will continue to fight for the middle class," Beil said.

Comments

Who is or is not in the WI legislature should be up the people of WI an only the people of WI. I make that statement about any state.

It's just amazing how Walker has cried about the unions bringing in people from out of state to protest, and when I popped on the news, I see JOE the PLUMBER (NOT FROM WISCONSIN) on screen screaming in front of our WI Capital. $400,000 in advertising money has been spent by Koch groups to CAMPAIGN for Walker's budget repair bill and budget-- and now this? The unions did not bring in a fraction of the outsiders that republican groups did. There is a swarmy, underhanded, dirty trick type of overtone to all that has been happening in Wisconsin since January-- It's embarrassing, it's gutting Wisconsin, and I hate it.

Yes, and those other out-of-state people, like Jesse Jackson, and the head of the AFL-CIO, unions from out of state busing in people, and President Obama - stupids jerks should stay out of it.

The last thing we want is Obama to come to Madison. It would turn the protest into a circus and draw attention away from the legislation in question. He needs to continue to make statements supporting this effort, but to come here would not help. Besides, the middle east is blowing up and we have a National budget crisis - he needs to stay where he is!

I would think twice about that. Remember where Obama goes, nothing grows! He roots for a team, they lose, he backs a candidate, they loose, Hell yeah, let Obama come to support our liberals.

The Tea Partiers, their corporate bosses and funders, are coming to Wisconsin again in their tour buses. Those "stupid jerks" should stay out too. And the same goes for Fox Noise.

If Wisconsin legislatures are going to try and govern for another state than people from other states can take an interest. I'm from Oshkosh Wisconsin ans I say recall every legislature member that left the state and wasn't doing their job.

The fact that the state senators who left are Democrats makes it very arguable that the folks who elected them do not identify their interests with those of the billionaire Koch Brothers. I should be so lucky as to have legislators so willing to fight to the very last to defend my rights. Fat chance of that from the horde of yahoos who got swept in last election.

Had the Democratic senators not left the state, the Senate would have passed the bill without public input or even public knowledge, maybe in the middle of the night. The people in this state have the right to know what our government is doing. The cabal in power is making RADICAL changes and hoping that no one will notice until it is too late.

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