More Wisconsin Republican 8 Recalls Likely Coming Very Soon

John Nichols, of The CapTimes and The Nation, who has worked very hard the last few months to keep us informed, said Monday on MSNBC's the Ed Show, "There will be more recalls filed in coming days." The announcements have probably been delayed until all of the canvass boards have completed. So, I expect to hear the news soon.

"I think that people who aren‘t in Wisconsin often think wow, they took another hit. They found 14,000 votes in Waukesha County. People are going to get frustrated and give up.

It is quite the opposite. On election day last week, there were people at polling places all over the state collecting recall signatures. Those signatures are piling up. There will be more recalls filed in coming days.

And there are now candidates stepping up. Jennifer Schilling, a terrific state representative, who you may not remember, Ed—she actually appeared briefly on your show when you were in Wisconsin—has announced that she is going to take on Dan Kapanke. And she is a very strong candidate.

So far from the enthusiasm going [this way], there is an awful lot of evidence that people are getting into these recall races and saying, you know, look, if we‘ve got to pile up an extra 14,000 votes to ensure a victory, we‘ll do it."

Already, two of the eight Republican senators will face a recall election. Senator Dan Kapanke was the first senator whose district gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall, and Senator Randy Hopper was the second. Randy Hopper's recall was hinted at by John Nichols on MSNBC's Ed Show the day before the petition was filed.

The Republican 8 are being recalled for outright lying to Wisconsin and voting to strip collective bargaining rights from Wisconsin workers. Two senators facing a recall election with just over half the allotted time to get signatures is quite amazing and shows just how strongly Wisconsin feels about workers' rights. Now, with only a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, at least one more senator will likely be added to the list.

The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell who of the remaining six Republicans will be next.

In the same time, the Koch brothers and Republicans have been trying to recall eight Democrats. However, they haven't been able to gather enough signatures to recall even one.

The magnitude of Wisconsinites who support democracy and workers' rights is becoming more clear. Keep up the good fight!

Another important battle, in my book, is the Voter Distraction Bill (Senate Bill 6).

Update: (April 17, 2:27am) Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin spotted this in Saturday's Inter-County Leader, "Those gathering signatures to force incumbent State Senator Sheila Harsdorf into a recall election in June have indicated they have collected more than the 15,000-plus signatures needed." The recall petition organizers still want to collect more signatures to "provide a safe margin" before submitting the petition.