Scott Fitzgerald, Wisconsin Senate Leader, Confronted By Recall Supporter

Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) came under fire this week for a campaign email he sent on behalf of Republican Governor Scott Walker when he was confronted by a supporter of the Walker recall effort.

Lori Compas addressed Fitzgerald on Monday during the senator's open office hours in Horicon, according to Wisconsin-based Blogging Blue. She questioned the senator on an email that asked his constituents to "help me fight the fraud that is happening right now on recall petitions in my district."

The email, titled "Mickey Mouse is helping..." -- a reference to the news that recall signatures from Mickey Mouse and Adolf Hitler would be considered valid if they were properly dated with a valid Wisconsin address -- blasted Wisconsin Democrats and claimed those who were working to recall Walker were committing fraud:

Last week, a recall signer admitted -- to a TV reporter -- that he has signed a recall petition "about 80 times." His excuse? "They cheated for Bush, so hey, I'm going to cheat to get Scott Walker out."

Then yesterday, in the state Capitol, the Government Accountability Board (who is supposed to be policing the recall process) announced that it would COUNT recall signatures from "Mickey Mouse" as long as a date and address are included.

And here's the icing on the cake: the Government "Accountability" Board said that it's not their responsibility to check for duplicates and fake names: it's the responsibility of the Senators who are being recalled.

A thousand needles have been thrown into the haystack, and the senators fighting recalls are the ones who have to find them. And it's a heck of a lot easier to sign fake and duplicate signatures than it is to find them.

Compas asked for an apology, claiming the statement in Fitzgerald's email led to "offensive language" and "rude gestures" directed toward her and other recall volunteers.

Fitzgerald isn't the only one to question the authenticity of the recall efforts. Walker's campaign and Wisconsin Republican Party director Stephan Thompson sued the state's elections and ethics agency in Waukesha over its handling of signatures in the recall drive, according to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

Comments

[fitzag]

02:40 PM on 01/05/2012

These repug our nothing but a bunch of thugs just like the MAFIA was.

[Wis99]

01:37 PM on 12/31/2011

The person getting my signature on the recall petition made sure my name and address were written legibly and that I filled out the petition correctly. The comments that "Mickey Mouse" and "Adolf Hitler" will appear on a recall petition is slim to none. I commend the volunteers who are taking the time and making the effort to get this done right.

[Jromain]

11:51 AM on 12/29/2011

Fitzgerald's attack on the GAB is a red herring. According to Wisconsin Law:

"Within 10 days after a recall petition is "offered for filing" with the appropriate filing officer,
the officeholder can challenge its sufficiency. The challenge must be made in the form of a
written, sworn complaint filed with the appropriate filing officer who received the recall
petition. §9.10(3)(b), Wis. Stats. and GAB ch. 2, Wis. Adm. Code."

The burden of proof for any challenge rests with the individual who brings the challenge.

It is not the GAB's job to challenge signatures - it is the job of the official being challenged.

Sources: http://gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/recall

http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/publication65recall_manual_for_congressiona_county_and_state__82919.pdf

[Jerry Person]

10:32 AM on 12/29/2011

Todays GOP characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. GOP are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are disproportionately responsible for violent crime when in a violent emotional state or situation. Though lacking empathy and emotional depth, they often manage to pass themselves off as average individuals by feigning emotions and lying about their past.

[unwashedmasses]

01:08 PM on 12/28/2011

So now he attacks the GAB - not the recall effort. What a CROCK.

[frankcaprafan]

05:36 PM on 12/27/2011

Go Wisconsinite recallers! The majority of the country supports you. Keep that in mind as you go out and collect signatures. You're not just doing this for Wisc. but for all of us.

[knotsonorml]

01:15 PM on 12/27/2011

Face it, folks. The last time Republicans cared about you, you were a fetus.

[platt]

03:16 PM on 12/27/2011

That is SO TRUE! I love the way you put that!

[allisonisa39e]

02:54 AM on 12/23/2011

Is Wisconsin doing better financially since the unions lost some of their power in the fiasco earlier ??
Did teachers get fired ?

[Ginger23]

04:07 PM on 12/26/2011

No and yes.

[unwashedmasses]

01:09 PM on 12/28/2011

Yes.

[l78lancer]

07:58 PM on 12/22/2011

Unfortunately for the recall folks they may have to toughen up because the will get some blowback because of their efforts, but if the legislature and governor weren't smart enough to check and correct the law that identified the accountability for signature verification, it serves them right. They will find that Mickey, Minnie, Millie and Mikey all live at the same address.

[pollclaire]

10:22 AM on 12/22/2011

If those names are appearing on the recall petitions (Which I doubt; I haven't seen that happen), then it's clearly being done by Fitzgerald supporters with the intention of tainting the recall process.

They've already engaged in assault, threats and intimidation, all of which have been documented in police reports, so I don't think that signing false names would be ouside their ethical boundries.

Anyone with an interest in seeing the petition go forward would have no reason to sign 'Mickey Mouse'. Their real name would serve the purpose much more effectively.

[oldseadog]

09:32 AM on 12/22/2011

Walker, Ryan , Wisconsin I thought you would have learned your lesson after Joe McCarthy and the birth place of the Republican Party. SAY YOUR SORRY.

[ruthtruth]

08:49 AM on 12/22/2011

Looks like the TP/GOP in Wisconsin are really scared that they will be shown the door. Making up more BS is their way of handling anything they can't control.

[allencollinsa]

05:39 AM on 12/22/2011

bye bye wisconsin republican idiots in 2012

[allisonisa39e]

05:32 AM on 12/22/2011

Will Mickey and Adolf also get to vote ? maybe 80 times !!

[pmoschetta]

06:10 AM on 12/22/2011

http://www.wisdems.org/news/press/view/2011-05-gop-election-fraud-exposed

Me thinks when pubs throw Mickey Mouse into the conversation its just a way to divert attention away from their own record of voter fraud

[pollclaire]

10:04 AM on 12/22/2011

Don't even start. After ten years of allegations, you owe us one. Just one. Show it or shut it.

The real fraud has been happening in places like Waukesha county, where Republican county clerks like 'Carpal Tunnel' Kathy Nickolaus have been reliably padding the Republican margin in each election.

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN
NOVEMBER 7, 2006
PRECINCTS COUNTED (OF 211). . . . . 210 99.53%
REGISTERED VOTERS - TOTAL . . . . . 0
BALLOTS CAST - TOTAL. . . . . . . 156,804

GOVERNOR/L­­­­IEUTENA­N­T GOVERNOR
DOYLE/LAWT­­­­ON (DEM) . . . . . . . 61,401 34.86%
GREEN/HUND­­­­ERTMARK (REP). .112,242 63.73%
EISMAN/TOD­­­­D (WGR). . . . . . . . . . 2,320 1.32%
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 149 .08%

Do you see the problem yet?

How do you get 176,000 votes from 156,000 ballots?

[allisonisa39e]

02:57 AM on 12/23/2011

Was this reported and confirmed ?

If true of course this is a problem.
If elections are dishonest then "we the people" are the ones that suffer.

[pollclaire]

10:24 PM on 12/21/2011

Fitzgerald, a local tinhorn politician in the best tradition of Wisconsin politics. He represents not the elites, but the people who THINK they're the elites. They build their dream homes on the banks of the weed-clogged carp farm that is Lake Sinissippi.

In the evenings they can sit on the deck and listen to the carp popping bugs on the surface. Heaven.