The Wisconsin political field is very much in play. Walker is running for reelection, as is Lieutenant Governor Rebeccas Kleefisch. Democrat challengers have announced in both contests, with former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk gaining substantial labor backing in her run for the party's gubernatorial nod. Secretary of State Doug La Follette, Wisconsin's longest-serving statewide official is also running, as is state Senator Kathleen Vinehout, a rural populist who was one of the 14 Democratic senators who left the state Capitol in order to block action on Walker's anti-labor proposals. And, on Friday afternoon, following the certification of the petitions, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the party's 2010 gubernatorial nominee, entered the Democratic race.
Walker could well face a Republican party primary challenge, although he remains a favorite of the right-wing base that has come to dominate the once-moderate party.
There are likely to be primaries for the office of lieutenant governor and the state senate seats as well -- as the Republican Party of Wisconsin has indicated that it will file fraudulent candidates (so-called "placeholders") in all Democratic primaries.
While much of the media focus will be on the partisan jockeying, it is important to keep track of the reality of what has happened in Wisconsin.
An American governor sought to impose a radical austerity agenda that attacked labor rights, public education and public services -- while cutting taxes for multinational corporations.
The people of that state filled the streets and occupied the capitol to object.
The governor and his allies refused to listen to the people; they enacted the anti-labor law -- portions of which were, on Friday, found by a federal judge to be unconstitutional.
In the face of Walker's extreme moves, the people dusted off an old progressive tool of accountability -- the recall power -- organized the grassroots United Wisconsin movement that attracted 30,000 volunteers.
The governor pushed back with a multi-million dollar television advertising campaign that attacked the legitimacy of the recall and urged Wisconsinites to oppose it. His allies in the media portrayed the recall as inappropriate, unnecessary and costly. His political backers claimed that the recall effort was collecting fraudulent signatures and suggested, again and again, that it would not stand up to scrutiny.
On January 17, that movement filed close to two million signatures on petitions seeking the recall of the governor, lieutenant governor and four powerful state senators.
Now, a little over two months later, the petitions have not just been judged to be credible. They have been found to have a dramatically fewer flawed or fraudulent signatures than have historically been found on recall and referendum petitions.
Specifically, the GAB found that, of 931.053 signatures filed to recall the governor, 900,939 were valid.
Of 842,854 signatures originally filed against Kleefisch, 808,990 were found to be valid.
In each case, the totals were dramatically above the required -- 360,000 more than was needed for the gubernatorial race, 268,000 more that was needed for the lieutenant governor race.
"Despite intimidation, threats, and near obsession by our opponents to diminish and slander this movement, these results prove yet again their failure in stifling the voice of working people. This report underscores just how clean and ethical this historic campaign was," explained United Wisconsin leaders. "Those 30,000 volunteers who sacrificed their time to restore our democracy made sure they followed the rules and acted with the utmost respect for the process, leading to only a meager four signatures marked as fake."
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