Senator Luther Olsen Becomes Third Wisconsin Republican To Face Recall

John Nichols hinted last week that more recall petitions would be filed for the Republican 8. Today, Senator Luther Olsen became one of those senators, making him the third Republican senator to face a recall election. Volunteers filed the recall petitions with the Government Accountability Board today.

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.

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 just over a week since filing a petition for Randy Hopper's recall, another senator is added to the list.

Also, Saturday, Jud Lounsbury at Uppity Wisconsin spotted this in the 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. So, Senator Harsdorf is likely the next Republican senator to fall.

The effort to collect enough signatures for Senators Darling and Cowles are thought to be not far behind, though it's difficult to tell.

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!

The remaining efforts to get signatures for the Republican 8 are for:

• Senator Robert Cowles
• Senator Alberta Darling
• Senator Sheila Harsdorf (though very close)
• Senator Glenn Grothman
• Senator Mary Lazich

Don't forget about a little known but important battle, the Voter Distraction Bill (Senate Bill 6).