Wisconsin: Political groups get recall election date wrong | The Oshkosh Northwestern

Some voters in the 18th Senate District are getting misleading information in the mail about the deadline for absentee voting in the recall election between Republican incumbent Sen. Randy Hopper and Democrat Jessica King.

Absentee voter applications sent by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity tell voters to return the mailing by Aug. 11, two days after Aug. 9 recall election. Oshkosh Deputy Clerk Angela Joeckel said ballots that arrive after Aug. 9 would not be counted in any way. She said Thursday, Aug. 4, is the last day the clerk’s office can send an absentee ballot out by mail.

Mailings from AFP with incorrect election dates were also sent out in at least two of the other five districts in which recall electionswill be held on Tuesday, those represented by Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls and Rob Cowles of Allouez.

Wisconsin: Robocalls arouse suspicion with bad election date | LaCrosse Tribune

A round of automated phone calls urging residents of the 32nd Senate District to vote one week after the upcoming recall election has voters from both parties crying foul. Several voters reported receiving calls Saturday asking about their preference and likelihood to vote in the recall election pitting Republican Sen.
Dan Kapanke against Democratic Rep. Jennifer Shilling, both of La Crosse.

The recorded calls, recipients said, urged them to vote Aug. 16. Only one problem: The 32nd District votes on Aug. 9.

Government Account -ability Board spokesman Reid Magney said the Democratic National Committee called election officials Friday saying they initiated the calls but stopped them Saturday once the incorrect date was discovered. The DNC did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
There are two recall elections set for Aug. 16 in other districts.

Wisconsin: An election that isn’t about the candidates, primary signals strange times | LaCrosse Tribune

James Smith thinks Wisconsin law makes it too easy to recall a sitting legislator. And he’s willing to spend taxpayer dollars to protest it.

Smith, a self-described libertarian Republican and former officer of the La Crosse County GOP, will be on the ballot Tuesday alongside Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Shilling in a bid to challenge Sen. Dan Kapanke. He is one of six fake Democrats across the state running as part of a GOP strategy to delay recalls until August.

County clerks estimate the partisan primary will cost taxpayers in the 32nd Senate district about $117,000, the same as the Aug. 9 recall election. Smith hopes his candidacy draws attention to Wisconsin’s laws.

Wisconsin: Expense of fake Democrats in primaries will top $400,000 | JSOnline

A plan by Republicans to run fake Democratic candidates in this summer’s recall elections would cost taxpayers upward of $428,000, according to election clerks. In one Senate district alone, the cost would top $100,000, interviews with county and municipal clerks show.

Even if Republicans back off their plans in some of the districts, taxpayers are all but guaranteed to have to pay the costs of the primary, because Democrats now plan to run multiple candidates in order to guarantee all the recall elections are held on the same day. Tuesday is the filing deadline.

Recall elections for six Republican senators are scheduled for July 12. But if there are multiple candidates from the same party in any of those elections, the July 12 election becomes a primary, with a general recall election to follow on Aug. 9.

Wisconsin: Former county GOP leader to challenge Shilling as Democrat in Wisconsin recall election | LaCrosse Tribune

Republicans have found a spoiler candidate to challenge Rep. Jennifer Shilling in this summer’s recall election, which would force a Democratic primary and extend the campaign by nearly a month.

James Smith, until recently a member of the La Crosse County GOP’s executive committee, says he is running as a protest candidate.

Smith, a regular fixture at local labor protests this spring where he held signs touting his support for Gov. Scott Walker, said he resigned his party leadership position Monday before announcing his candidacy. He said he does not plan on campaigning aggressively but wants to protest the recall process.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Senators Fight Sweeping Recalls | Courthouse News Service

Three Republican state senators have challenged the recall petitions that voters filed against them. And it looks like recall elections of three Democratic senators, if they occur, will come separately, a week after the six Republican recall elections scheduled for July 12.

The three Republicans’ complaints are based on a technicality: that the recall petitioners are not identified as members of the Committees to Recall.

State senators Randy Hopper (Fond du Lac), Luther Olsen (Ripon) and Dan Kapanke (La Crosse) sued the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in separate but virtually identical complaints in Dane County Court.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin GOP Discusses Planting Democratic Spoiler Candidate In Recall Election (AUDIO) | Huffington Post

Republicans in Wisconsin’s La Crosse County recently discussed the possibility of finding a spoiler candidate to run against Democrat Jennifer Schilling in the race to recall state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse), a scenario they say would cost Democrats more money and delay the entire election.

The revelation, first published by the La Crosse Tribune, came from a secret recording made during the party’s general membership meeting on May 25.

On the recording, which was obtained by The Huffington Post, La Crosse County Republican Party Vice Chairman Julian Bradley is heard recounting a conversation he had with Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the state party. “[W]e are actively keeping our ears to the ground and if anybody knows anybody for a candidate that would be interested on the Democratic side in running in the primary against Jennifer Shilling … if anybody knows any Democrats who would be interested, please let us know,” he said.