United Wisconsin announced Monday they have collected over 300,000 signatures after two weeks of circulating petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker.
"This is an amazing accomplishment, and we need you to keep this grassroots movement going-we have a long way to go before Walker is out of office," United Wisconsin said in an e-mail to supporters.
Petitioners will prompt a recall election if they gather more than 540,208 signatures, 25 percent of the number of voters in the 2010 gubernatorial election, by Jan. 17.
Political science professor Barry Burden said it is easiest to get signatures at the beginning of the drive because the "most eager signers will quickly add their names."
"The collection pace will slow as it expands to more disparate areas and groups of voters and [as] the weather becomes less pleasant," Burden said in an e-mail.
But United Wisconsin spokesperson Erik Kirkstein said they believe they can get at least 600,000 to 700,000 signatures.
According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, a similar petition drive in Ohio this spring, which prompted a referendum vote on their own collective bargaining legislation, gained around 215,000 in the first month, a number that United Wisconsin has far surpassed in two weeks.
Some Republicans say they believe organizers will collect enough votes to hold the recall but are confident Walker would win a general election.
"The more time goes on, the more facts we have on our side ... the lower the budget deficit gets and the more our reforms get a chance to work," College Republicans Spokesperson Jeff Snow said at a rally held for Walker supporters the first day petitions began circulating.
Burden also said he was unsure if Walker would survive a recall.
"A lot depends on who his opponent is and how the state economy looks," Burden said.
The recall efforts also include Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican senators.
The Committee to Recall Scott Fitzgerald, which needs 16,7000 signatures to prompt a recall election, announced on Twitter Monday they have 5,350 signatures thus far.
The groups organizing to recall the three other senators need to collect a comparable amount of signatures.
