The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Revisiting the Wisconsin recalls

Protest last February shaped Wisconsin - what's next for the state? Photo by Brooke Goodman / [email protected]

The six-month saga of Wisconsin’s state Senate recall movement ended with late this summer with four weeks of voting, leaving Democrats retaining two seats in the Senate and Republicans with a 17-16 majority.

Although the recall caught national attention, some Marquette students are out of the loop with Wisconsin politics after spending the summer out of state.

“I don’t remember seeing anything in the news about them,” said Kayte Tuleta, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration and part-time resident of Ohio. “I didn’t even know there were important elections going on in Wisconsin.”

The most recent election, on Aug. 16, saw two Democratic incumbents win seats in the Senate. Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover) beat out Tea Party activist Kim Simac of Eagle River, and Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) defeated Republican lawyer Jonathan Steitz.

General elections for six districts were held Aug. 9. Four incumbent Republican senators retained their seats: Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) and Luther Olsen (R-Ripon). Two Democratic challengers, Jessica King of Oshkosh and state Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse), were also victorious in the election.

Graeme Zielinski, communications director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, viewed the recall elections as motivation for Wisconsin Democrats for the upcoming 2012 election.

“The recall elections were a massive victory for the people of Wisconsin against Scott Walker and the Republican policies,” Zielinski said. “People all over the state are awake to this, and they are not going back to sleep.”

Zielinski also noted that should the people of Wisconsin move to recall Gov. Scott Walker, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin would follow suit.

John McAdams, a political science professor at Marquette, said the removal of Walker and his administration from office is not so likely. He cited the recent Republican redistricting in the state, which positioned Republican senators in predominantly Republican districts, as the primary reason.

“Democrats have failed twice in recalling the 2010 elections. The strategic Democrats will say, ‘Ok, that’s not a good use of our resources. There are a lot of other things we could be doing in 2012,’” McAdams said.

He said the narrow Republican majority in the Senate will be significant for both parties.

“The bottom line is, the ability of Democrats to do anything bold or far-reaching in legislation is limited. At the same time, getting sweeping legislation through the Senate is going to be trickier for Walker and Republicans, and they may be forced to make compromises,” McAdams said.

McAdams also said the narrow majority will place a greater significance on moderate Republicans in the state senate, namely Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), who did not vote for Walker’s budget repair bill and wanted to water down changes in collective bargaining rights.

The recall elections began in July with primaries for both parties. On July 12, the Democratic primaries for Senate seats occupied by Republicans were held. A week later, the GOP held its primaries for Democrats’ seats.

The call for the elections erupted amidst the infighting in Madison over the governor’s budget initiatives. In February and March, sixteen groups filed papers to recall Wisconsin state senators – eight against both Republicans and Democrats.

The state Government Accountability Board then set elections for six Republicans and three Democrats.

Story continues below advertisement
Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

All Marquette Wire Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *