The recall campaign against Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, announced Friday members had acquired the necessary amount of signatures to trigger a special election, becoming the first of the 16 campaigns to do so.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin and volunteers collected 21,700 signatures, well above the roughly 15,000 signatures needed for a recall election, according to DPW spokesperson Graeme Zielinski. The campaign filed a recall petition with the Government Accountability Board on March 2.
The signatures were collected in half the time allotted, a testimony to the momentum of the movement against Gov. Scott Walker. Hundreds of volunteers turned out to help the campaign in Kapanke’s district, with thousands helping out statewide in other recall campaigns.
“This is a historic moment for grassroots history in Wisconsin,” Zielinski said. “Coalitions of Republicans, Independents and Democrats got together in the Coulee region to fight back against Gov. Walker’s attack on the middle class.”
After the signatures are delivered to the GAB, the board has 31 days to verify the signatures. A recall election could be held in as little as six weeks later if the signatures pass review.
The Kapanke effort is the first of 16 recall campaigns to reach its quota. Currently recall efforts are targeting eight Democratic senators and eight Republican senators.
The recall effort against Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, is close to gathering enough signatures as well, but will not be releasing signature numbers before they have reached the quota, Zielinski said.
Hopper felt his vote for the collective bargaining bill was the right thing despite the recall effort against him, spokesperson Jeff Harvey said.
“These efforts are nothing more than union bosses and special interests groups attempting to undermine our attempt to bring responsibility to Wisconsin,” Harvey said. “He believes it’s the right thing to do, and we’re ready to put Madison on a sound fiscal track.”
Hopper and his office are preparing for the recall election campaign, Harvey said. Volunteers and members of Hopper’s campaign have been going door to door and making calls within his district in preparation, Harvey added.
