Last November, roughly 250,000 people cast ballots in state senate districts 13, 21, 23 and 29. Republican state Sens. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, Van Waangaard, R-Racine, Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls, and Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, respectively, won those races, and now they are all being targeted by state Democrats for recall.
2010 was an especially valuable year for the GOP to regain control of the Capitol. Aside from the ability to push a far-right agenda on an otherwise moderate state, Republicans controlled one thing that will affect the state for the next decade-redistricting.
The U.S. Constitution mandates a census be taken every ten years, and every ten years, national, state and local legislative districting boundaries are redrawn to reflect changes and movements in population.
Naturally, the Republicans took advantage of their single-party control and gerrymandered the existing districts to become more favorable to their reelection chances.
These new legislative boundaries are set to take effect in November of 2012, in time for the next election.
Wisconsin's nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which oversees state elections, ruled that the new boundaries will not be used for any election before November 2012, including recalls.
Activists are circulating petitions in those districts right along with petitions to recall Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. Even if the efforts targeting the governor fail, the four senate recalls are extremely crucial to the political balance in the Capitol; recall elections from this past summer left Republicans with an ever-so-slight 17-16 majority in the Senate. If just one of the current recall efforts is successful, the Democrats would regain control of the body and be able to stop state Republicans from dragging this state with a moderate and progressive history even farther to the right.
Republican legislators are up in arms about the GAB's decision and have filed two lawsuits-one in right-leaning Waukesha County and the other with the State Supreme Court-challenging the decision. They want the new districts to apply to the recall elections.
Eric McLeod, an attorney representing the Republicans, told The Daily Cardinal the lawsuits argue that any potential recall election should take place in the new districts because the redistricting law passed this year supersedes the old boundaries.
We don't buy this argument. It should be a really simple concept, common sense really: Elected officials are accountable to the people who voted them into office. These four senators were chosen in 2010 to represent those 250,000 voters and their neighbors in Madison until January of 2013.
We agree with the GAB's ruling. If Republicans have their way, thousands of Wisconsinites will be disenfranchised and essentially lose representation in the senate until the next election. That would be simply wrong.
Legislative Republicans: Stop your efforts to intentionally disenfranchise voters, all just to make it easier to hold on to power for a few more months. Quit wasting our money and our time.
