As the recall deadline for most state senators passed Monday, activists trying to hold recall elections for state Sens. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, and Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, failed to collect enough signatures.
The Committee to Recall Grothman collected about 15,000 signatures, falling short of the 20,061 required. The Lazich Recall Committee believes they collected about 18,987 signatures, falling short of the 20,973 needed, but said they will not know definitively until Tuesday. The committee called every signature a victory.
""This is the heart of the Governor's right-wing base,"" Recall Lazich spokesperson Elizabeth Galewski said in a statement. ""Sen. Lazich ran unopposed in the last election, so many of the people who are signing the recall petition are the same people who voted for her. Quite simply, every signature is a victory.""
Lazich did not want to claim victory until the count is finalized, but said the failure to collect enough signatures demonstrates that her constituents still support her.
""I think it speaks volumes of the support within the district for the votes that I have taken, for the positions that I have taken, if they are not successful,"" Lazich said.
Efforts to hold recall elections have succeeded for six Republican senators and three Democratic senators and the voting will likely be held in July.
