UPDATE: Thursday, 7:30 a.m. -- The campaign to recall Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is calling it quits after a similar effort was defeated Tuesday in nearby Wisconsin.
Michigan Rising, the organization leading the recall effort, said in an early Thursday release that it would no longer collect signatures for its petition to remove Snyder from office. Communications Director Bruce Fealk noted the decision was closely tied to the failure of a large-scale effort by unions and Democrats to unseat Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
"It has become abundantly clear that Michigan Rising was not going accomplish its goal of recalling Governor Snyder," Fealk said in the release. "The results in Wisconsin crystalized how difficult a task it is to recall a sitting governor, even when the unions and the Democratic Party play a significant role in the effort."
He also noted Michigan Rising was not on track to collect the signatures needed for the effort and was "well short of its benchmark to have 200,000 petition signatures by June 1."
Earlier:
A spokesman for the campaign to recall Michigan's governor said Wednesday his organization is rethinking its game plan in the wake of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's Tuesday victory over a well-organized recall effort.
Michigan Rising in May launched a petition drive to recall Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), and has drawn parallels between Snyder and Walker, both rookie midwest governors.
Bruce Fealk, the organization's communications director, even spent the last few weeks in Madison, Wis., helping the Wisconsin recall campaign with phone banking and door-to-door canvassing.
He told The Huffington Post Wednesday that Walker's 53-46 percent win over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) in the recall election was a sobering development for those interested in unseating Snyder in Michigan.
"After everything they did here [in Wisconsin], all the organization, the money, the volunteers -- it was a full-scale effort -- it doesn't bode really well [for the Michigan recall]," he said. Fealk added that unlike Wisconsin, the Michigan effort does not have the support of unions or the Democratic Party.
Michigan Rising's board will meet Wednesday night to discuss how to proceed. Fealk said they will also talk about the status of the recall petition drive, which needs about 800,000 signatures to get on the November ballot.
"We're not where we need to be," he said of the signature-gathering effort, but he wouldn't give specific numbers. "I'm not going to say we're on target because we're not, and that's going to be a part of our discussion tonight."
Michigan Rising's campaign is the second attempt to recall Snyder, who took office in 2011.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly named the communications director of Michigan Rising. He is Bruce Fealk, not Scott Fealk.