A Muskego man has filed the first recall effort against Governor Scott Walker. However, Democrats charge it’s actually a ploy to help Walker defend himself from a larger recall effort later this month.
David Brandt of Muskego registered the group “Close Friends to Recall Walker” with the Government Accountability Board on Friday, starting a 60 day period to collect the over 540,000 signatures that will be needed to trigger a recall election against Walker. Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Graeme Zielinski says their databases indicate Brandt is actually a Waukesha County Republican, and Friday’s filing is only meant to allow Governor Walker to start raising unlimited campaign funds as soon as possible.
Friday was the first day recall paperwork could be filed with the state, but Democrats and United Wisconsin are waiting until November 15th to launch their own recall effort. State law allows candidates targeted by a recall to begin fundraising as soon as paperwork has been filed. Zielinski says this gives Walker an 11 day head start to raise “unlimited corporate cash.”
Zielinski says the early filing was expected and it will not deter their plans to recall Walker.
A message left at Brandt’s Muskego phone number was not returned. The only statement listed on the paperwork Brandt filed with state indicates the recall is “to fulfill my friend’s last request.”
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:04)