First off, Gov. Scott Walker (R. WI) received a big Fuck You today:
For the second time in less than a week, a Dane County judge Tuesday told Gov. Scott Walker he must quickly order special elections to fill two legislative seats that have been vacant since December.
Under the orders, Walker has until Thursday to call the special elections, which would likely be held in June.
The governor and his fellow Republicans who control the Legislature are seeking to approve legislation next week that could cancel the need for special elections and give Walker broader powers to determine when to allow voters to fill vacancies in the Legislature.
Circuit Judge Richard Niess noted the legislation to avoid the elections is slated to be taken up without voters from those districts having representation in the Senate and Assembly.
"They have no say in that bill at all," Niess said.
In a late-night filing Monday, Walker asked the court to put off for a week the requirement that he call the special elections so the bill could get through the Legislature. Niess turned down the request.
But the governor and his legislative allies are not giving up, and that has created a chaotic circumstance in Wisconsin.
Walker and Republican leaders in the legislature are still looking for ways to avoid following the existing law. On Tuesday, they announced a plan to rewrite state statutes so that governors would no longer be required to call special elections to fill legislative vacancies “as promptly as possible.” Under the Republican rewrite of the statutes that was unveiled Tuesday, legislative vacancies occurring after early December of odd-numbered years could be left unfilled until the regular November election of the following year.
This legally-dubious attempt to overturn a judge’s order by writing a new law would radically alter rules that have been in place for decades — and in some cases more than a century — for holding prompt special elections. Yet, Republican legislative leaders plan to call an extraordinary special session April 4 to pass the legislation, and Walker says he will sign it immediately. Then, if the special elections have been called by the governor in order to a contempt of court ruling, Walker allies suggest, the governor will then cancel them.
The rush to enact the new law was decried by state Rep. David Bowen, a Milwaukee Democrat who has been a sharp critic of the governor’s anti-democratic tactics.
“Wisconsinites have seen first-hand the inability of this governor and legislature to respond to the needs of Wisconsinites. From Republicans voting unanimously against universal gun background checks, to taking the better part of a decade to finally listen to Democrats and close (a troubled youth prison), responsiveness to glaring issues is not something this governor and legislature are known for,” complained Bowen. “Yet, when the greatest fear Republicans have in 2018 – the electorate – presented itself, it was with swift determination that the governor and Republicans faced the problem head on. A problem so big, they decided, that an extraordinary session of the legislature was justified to make sure these Wisconsin taxpayers don’t have a chance at the representation they deserve.”
We have to make Walker big time in November for denying Democracy to the voters. Click below to donate and get involved with the Democratic candidates running for Governor:
Tony Evers
Dana Wachs
Kathleen Vinehout
Andy Gronik
Paul Soglin
Kelda Roys