Wisconsin Recall: Gov. Walker Next?

By Kenneth R. Bazinet

The Wisconsin recall election season, triggered by GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-worker law, is finally over, leaving Republicans with only a one-seat majority in the state Senate.

Two Wisconsin Democratic state senators easily held on to their seats yesterday in the last two of nine recall elections this summer.

The Democrats now have their sights set on Walker, the ultra-conseravtive governor who stripped most public employees in Wisconsin of their collective bargaining rights. They may try to recall Walker early next year, but first need to collect more than 500,000 signatures.

“Democrats won more races, recalled two Republican senators, protected every Democratic incumbent, shifted the balance of power in the state Senate away from conservatives, and forced Walker and the GOP to pay public lip service to moderation and bipartisanship for the first time since they took power in January,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said.

“All of these facts show that voters gave Democrats the overall victory in this summer’s historic senate recall elections,” he added.

The GOP has to be concerned about the newly enlisted rural voters that joined the Democratic ranks as a result of the recalls. Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a tough-talking hardliner not known for either eloquence or compromise, is already begging for a truce.

“The problems facing our state are too serious for these political games, and the Democrats’ permanent campaign cycle,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “The Democrats need to start working with the other side of the aisle, not just moving on to their next recall target.”

Six Republicans and three Democrats were challenged in the recall  races that together cost close to $40 million in money spent by outside unions and corporate-backed right-wing groups.

First-term Sen. Jim Holperin was believed to be the most vulnerable Democratic target of the three who were challenged this summer by Republicans, but he coasted to victory yesterday over Tea Party activist Kim Simac.

Holperin knows about recall elections. He was challenged in a recall in 1990 while in the Wisconsin Assembly after he backed tribal spearfishing rights. Holperin won that race.

In the other race, Democratic Sen. Bob Wirch had a cake walk win over GOP political neophyte and corporate lawyer Jonathan Steitz.

There have only been about 20 legislative recall election nationwide since the early 20th century. There have never been as many recalls in one state over a one-month period.

Read more from Kenneth R. Bazinet at the Baz File.