Fourteen Wisconsin state senators from both sides of the aisle are facing recall efforts by constituents angry about how the legislators are handling the controversial budget repair bill.
Of those who have had recall committees registered against them with the Government Accountability Board, six are Democrats and eight are Republicans. The only two state senators who are eligible for recall and have not yet been challenged are state Sens. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, and Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point.
The recall process requires a certain number of signatures to be collected within a 60-day period, ranging from about 12,000 to 21,000, depending on each senator's district. If the proper number of signatures is collected, the senators will be subject, which would likely occur in the summer.
UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said although it is a lot of signatures to collect, senators who won by slim margins in 2008 could be vulnerable.
Three Republicans, state Sens. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, and one Democrat, state Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Conover, each won with less than 52 percent of the vote. Hopper in particular barely scraped by with 50 percent.
Franklin said recalls usually only occur over a personal scandal or some dramatic discontent specific to the district.
""I don't think the past gives us a really clear guide to whether recalling several senators based on a policy disagreement like this as opposed to being indicted for a crime or something would actually pay off,"" Franklin said.
Anger over the budget repair bill could possibly mean a recall election for Gov. Scott Walker as well, but nothing can be filed until January 2012. Because of this, Franklin said it is too early to tell what will happen with the new governor.
""I don't want to say it can't happen, but a year is an eternity in politics,"" he said.
—Ariel Shapiro
