State election officials confirmed Monday there are enough valid signatures to prompt a recall election of four state senators, but did not officially announce when the elections would be held.
The Government Accountability Board verified enough signatures to force recall elections for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Sens. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls, and Van Wanggaard, R-Racine.
But the Board said election dates would not be officially announced until the signatures calling for a recall election of Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch are fully reviewed and confirmed.
GAB Director and General Counsel Kevin Kennedy said the board is trying to hold all of the elections at the same time to cut down on expenses.
Pending a request for more time to review petitions filed against Walker and Kleefisch, it seems likely a general election could be held as soon as May 8. If primary elections are needed, however, the general election would be moved to June 5, one day after Memorial Day, and the primaries would be May 8.
State Democrats have been urging the GAB to declare the elections as soon as possible, since incumbents may raise unlimited funds before an election is officially declared, while challengers must comply with normal donation limits.
Conversely, Republicans have asked the board to thoroughly review the signatures to disqualify invalid signatures.
UW-Madison Political Science Professor Barry Burden said that another reason Republicans would like to see the elections later is they are hoping the economy will improve, and with it public perception of Republicans in power.
“They want to get away from the bad economic news from the last six months or so and get further away from the protests and division of last year,” Burden said. “Whereas Democrats want to build on the momentum they have right now.”
Also, the board reported Monday that 930,000 signatures were submitted against Walker, contrary to the 1 million signatures recall organizers said they gathered. That number is still well over the 540,208 valid signatures needed to force a recall election.
