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Candidates differ on collective bargaining (AUDIO)

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The four Democrats challenging Governor Walker meet in Madison (Photo: WRN)

While they admit overturning a controversial bill that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public employees will be difficult, the four Democratic candidates hoping to challenge Governor Scott Walker in a recall election believe it can be done. However, each offered a different approach to accomplishing that goal during a forum in Madison Wednesday night hosted by the Dane County Democratic Party.

Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk believes the best way to overturn Act 10 is to force the change into the next state budget. She says the budget is the only bill that needs to pass each session and it offers the best opportunity to force Republicans to address the issue. Falk says calling a special session or just introducing a bill on its own will not work, because Republicans will likely block consideration in the Assembly.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett believes it would be a dangerous idea to make the issue a requirement for passing a state budget. He notes that if lawmakers fail to pass a budget the previous plan from Walker and Republicans would remain in place until they can reach a deal. Barrett says that could be far worse for the state.

Barrett says he would introduce a bill and call a special session on the issue. If Democrats win control of the state Senate in the upcoming recalls, he argues some Assembly Republicans may rethink their position on Act 10 and many will “not be as brave as they may have been last spring.”

AUDIO: Candidates offer plans on collective bargaining (7:59)

Secretary of State Doug La Follette agrees full Democratic control of the Legislature will be needed to overturn Act 10 and pledged to work to put progressive candidates in office to shift the balance of power. However, he believes there are some things he could do as governor to lessen the impact of the law, such as having the Department of Administration and public employees work together on labor issues.

State Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) says she already has a bill to repeal the law ready to go, and she believes it can still be done even if Democrats can only win back control of the state Senate. She says the state also needs to cooperate with public employees to address the serious financial issues facing Wisconsin.

The candidates answered a series of questions from Dane County Democrats on issues ranging from their policies on clean energy to how they would go about restoring cuts to education. The four will face each other in a primary election coming up on May 8th, with the winner going on to face Governor Walker in the recall election on June 5th.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:16)

Walker back on the campaign trail

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After raising campaign money across the country and airing commercials since November, Governor Scott Walker is hitting the ground to defend against an upcoming recall election in June.

Eau Claire was among several stops across the state Tuesday, where Walker met with dozens of supporters gathered at a manufacturing company. In his speech, Walker put heavy emphasis on how Wisconsin is heading in the right direction because of the policies he has helped to implement. The governor argued that in “the first two months of the year, more than 17,000 private sector jobs have been created” and “the unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since 2008.”

During a stop at Services Plus, a manufacturing company in Green Bay,  Walker defended the controversial collective bargaining law that sparked the recall effort, and balancing the state budget. “We avoided the massive layoffs of public employees that they saw in other states.”

Walker’s eventual opponent will be decided in a primary election on May 8th. Tom Barrett, Kathleen Falk, Doug La Follette and Kathleen Vinehout all turned in the required signatures Tuesday to appear on the ballot.

However, the governor argues it doesn’t matter which Democrat is on the ballot come June 5th. He said out of state money from big union groups will be behind the nominee, no matter who it is. Walker has also raised a large amount of his campaign funds from outside of Wisconsin.

The governor also made campaign stops in Dane, Milwaukee, and Mosinee.

AUDIO: WAYY’s Mike Ness reports (:56)

Mike Kemmeter-WHBY contributed to this report

Judge grants more time for recall review

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A judge in Dane County has virtually doubled the amount of time the state Government Accountability Board will have to review recall petitions targeting the governor, lieutenant governor, and four Republican state senators. Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess says giving the GAB 61 days to scan and check signatures is reasonable, and will only help to ensure the public that the petitions are valid.

Niess on Wednesday morning agreed to give the agency an extra 31 days to scan petitions and check them for duplicate or fake signatures. The GAB argued more time was needed to go through the estimated 1.9 million signatures turned in to the agency last week.

The judge also agreed to give more time to the campaigns of those targeted by recalls, so they can check petitions and file any challenges against signatures. The ruling gives Governor Scott Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch 30 days to do their own petition checks and the campaigns of four Republican state Senators an additional 10 days. Normally, those campaigns would each have only 10 days to challenge signatures.

Judge Niess says a time extension seems reasonable because of the massive undertaking the GAB is currently facing. However, he cautioned attorneys that his decision is not meant to open the door to additional delays in the process. If enough valid signatures were turned in, Niess says elections will be held and will “not be delayed unreasonably.”

Unless more time is requested or the campaigns file lawsuits, the extensions will likely have the GAB certifying the petitions sometime in mid-March. If a Democratic primary is held, the actual recall elections would then take place about 10 weeks later.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:15)

Preparing for recall challenges

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While Democrats believe recall elections for Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and four Republican state senators are imminent, organizers are preparing for possible legal battles.

Earlier this week, recall groups turned in 1.9 million signatures to recall Walker and other Republicans from office. Only 540,208 signatures are needed to trigger a recall election against Walker, while organizers say more than one million were delivered to state election officials.

Despite the inevitability Democrats claim is behind their effort, attorney Jeremy Levinson say he is preparing for possible legal battles. Just what those challenges might be remains unknown though. Levinson says he expects the Walker campaign will “cook up all sorts of new-fangled legal theories about why this should be thrown out.”

The Government Accountability Board is already looking for duplicate or fake signatures, although the campaigns can also challenge any they suspect are not legitimate. Levinson admits a few problems may have “fallen through the cracks,” but nothing that will come close to compromising the hundreds of thousands of signatures necessary for a recall.

Levinson believes some Walker supporters could also step forward with claims their names were added to petitions without their knowledge. However, he also doubts those cases will be enough to stop an election.

The GAB is currently reviewing the petitions in a process that’s expected to take at least two months. The agency is planning to ask a judge to grant them more time.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:17)

Democrats prepare for primary

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With a recall election against Governor Walker likely to happen this year, Democrats are gearing up for what could be a crowded field of candidates looking to take him on. Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced Wednesday she will be a candidate, while several others have said they are considering a run.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Mike Tate says having a primary would be a good thing for the recall effort because it’s a sign of how “weak Scott Walker is electorally” and shows that more than one Democrat has done the research and thinks they have a path to victory.

A primary would add six weeks to the recall process and could result in Democrats making personal attacks on each other in hopes of winning the nomination. Tate is calling on any candidates to make sure their attention stays on Governor Walker, instead of going after each other. While the party will not be endorsing a candidate, Tate says they will call for a “clean campaign pledge” so they can enter the four week general election period ready to take on Governor Walker.

Other potential Democratic candidates include state Senators Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) and Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), state Representative Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), former Congressman Dave Obey, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:02)

Kleefisch ready for recall

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While the main focus of recall organizers was the effort to remove Governor Scott Walker from office, petition circulators were also going after signatures against Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Recall groups say over 845,000 signatures were collected during that effort, making it likely her name will be on the same ballot as the governor.

Kleefisch says she’s looking forward to standing by Walker’s side on the campaign trail and focusing on what they achieved during their first year in office. She says “we’re proud of what happened over the last year and month of our time in office because we have seen tremendous reform in the state of Wisconsin and the reforms are working.”

While Kleefisch and Governor Walker will be on the ballot alone in a likely election, she expects they will campaign together. She says “we’re a team” and she stands behind the governor’s “great decisions” that lead to reforms and balancing the budget.

While several possible candidates have emerged to face Walker, there’s been little discussion of who would run against Kleefisch in a likely recall election. Still, Kleefisch she has no doubt their opponents will be “handpicked by what they believe to be out of state union bosses,” which will be a stark contrast to her and the governor.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (:58)

Falk to run against Walker

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Less than a day after more than one million petition signatures were turned in to recall Governor Scott Walker, his first possible opponent is stepping forward. Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced Wednesday that she will seek the Democratic nomination to oppose Walker in a likely recall election.

In an online message, Falk says “hope has inspired this movement, and the people of this movement inspire me.” She says a formal announcement on her candidacy will come soon.

With months of job losses, cuts to education, and what she calls an “all-out attack” on public employees, Falk says Walker’s agenda is not working. She says the state “can’t wait three more years to fix what’s wrong.”

AUDIO: Kathleen Falk (2:16)

Falk is the first Democrat to announce plans to run, although she is likely the first in what could be a crowded field of candidates. State Senator Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) has indicated he will be a candidate if an election is called, while state Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), Assembly Democratic leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) and former Congressman Dave Obey are also considering their options. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who lost to Walker in 2010, has also declined to rule out a rematch.

In a statement, Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews called Falk the “nominee hand-picked by big-government, public employee union bosses.” Matthews says Falk’s record as Dane County executive falls in lockstep with a “Madison liberal ideology” that’s outside the mainstream of the rest of the state.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:13)

Recall review underway (VIDEO)

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Recall organizers have turned in their petitions and now the long process of reviewing those signatures begins.

Shortly after they were dropped off Tuesday with the Government Accountability Board, the petitions were moved to a secure state facility. The agency is not disclosing the location for now, but insists the over 1.9 million signatures are being kept under tight security.

The agency has set up a webcam so members of the public can watch the review process.

GAB executive director Kevin Kennedy says the first step will be to scan the thousands of pages using software recently purchased by the agency. The move is intended to help staff build a database of signatures that can be used to identify duplicate or fictitious names.

The process is expected to take at least a few days, after which scans of the petitions will be given over to the campaigns of those targeted by recalls and posted online for public review. Kennedy could not provide an estimate of when a full searchable database would be publicly available.

Typically, the agency would have 30 days to review the petitions. Kennedy says they will be asking a judge for more time. However, he says they do not know right now just how much extra time will be needed because there are so many variables to consider. Those include possible signature challenges from campaigns and other legal issues that could be raised.

Volunteers deliver boxes of recall petitions to the GAB. (PHOTO: Jackie Johnson)

After the review is complete and if the GAB determines enough valid signatures were turned in, then it will call for recall elections. If all petitions are certified, Kennedy says they want to have primary and general elections for the governor, lt. governor, and four Republican state senators all held on the same dates. However, when those elections would take place remains very unclear at this time.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (:58)

Over one million sign to recall Walker (VIDEO)

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Organizers of an effort to recall Governor Scott Walker say they have collected more than enough signatures to make it happen. On Tuesday afternoon, over one million recall petition signatures were delivered to the Government Accountability Board. Only 540,208 valid signatures are needed to trigger a recall election.

Also submitted Tuesday were more than 845,000 petition signatures to recall Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and what organizers say is more than enough signatures to recall Republican state Senators Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls), Pam Galloway (R-Wausau), and Van Wanggaard (R-Racine).

Julie Wells of Fort Atkinson, who filed the Walker recall in November, helped deliver the first box. Standing on the back of the moving truck carrying the petitions, Wells said the recall effort shows how “the people of Wisconsin came together to fight back” after “Governor Walker lied to the state.”

In a statement from his campaign, Governor Walker said he looks “forward to talking to the people of Wisconsin about my continued promises to control government spending, balance the budget, and hold the line on taxes. In my first year in office, we did just that by eliminating a $3.6 billion budget deficit without raising taxes; all while the state added thousands of new jobs. Instead of going back to the days of billion dollar budget deficits, double digit tax increases and record job loss, I expect Wisconsin voters will stand with me and keep moving Wisconsin forward.”

Walker opponent carries petitions to the GAB office. (PHOTO: Jackie Johnson)

The submitted petitions will now be reviewed by the GAB, which will have to scan each page and verify the validity of signatures. Agency officials expect the process to take more than two months, putting the actual date of a recall election likely into the summer.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:03)

Putting recall petitions online

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Recall petitions targeting the governor, lieutenant governor, and four state senators are scheduled be turned into the Government Accountability Board Tuesday. As the review process gets underway, a state lawmaker wants to make sure everyone in the state has a chance to look at them as well.

The GAB will use software to scan the petitions and look for duplicate signatures or fake names. As part of that process, State Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) is asking the agency to post the petitions online for the world to see.

He says that would allow people to check to see if their name or the name of a friend or relative was added fraudulently during the signature gathering process.

Vos says having “citizen activists” involved can only help make the review process more accurate and transparent. He also believes it could save the state money by reducing the need for the GAB to hire dozens of temporary employees.

A spokesman for the agency says staff will look into the request.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:03)