Community Corner

Grothman Recall Effort Falls Short

Organizers for the recall effort against Sen. Glenn Grothman say the campaign was able to collect 15,000 signatures, a number too low to file a successful recall.

Organizers say they are about 5,000 signatures short of recalling Sen. Glenn Grothman as the 60-day window for the effort comes to a close today.

"The Grothman recall effort collected over 15,000 signatures from people unhappy with his representation, building a strong foundation for future campaigns," organizers said in their press release.

In order to recall the 20th Senate District representative, organizers would have needed 20,061 signatures from people living in this district. According to 2010 census data, the total population for the district is 176,381.

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"I’m glad it fell short, I think it shows one more time the common sense the voters of the 20th District have," Grothman said, adding it's unfortunate that many of those voters had to be bothered so frequently with the recall effort.

Recall efforts had been ongoing against several Democratic and Republican senators since the beginning of the protests against Gov. Scott Walker's bill, which eliminates most collective bargaining rights for many public unions. Protests on both sides of the bill kept Madison streets and Wisconsin cities busy for weeks, slowing passage of the bill.

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The Republicans removed certain fiscal items and passed the bill, which was then signed by the governor and is now being challenged in court.

"According to campaign staff, many (recall) signers were upset with Grothman's support of the proposal to strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights," the press release said. "Others were angry about his proposal to drastically reduce support for public education. Still others opposed his derogatory views about women. All thought Grothman should not support balancing the state budget on the backs of the elderly, the poor and the middle class in favor of tax breaks for the rich."

Organizers took pride in their efforts despite being unable to collect the needed signatures.

"We are really proud of the thousand-plus volunteers who contributed to the effort," said Richard Schwalb, who led the effort in Ozaukee County.

And even though he's clear of a recall, Grothman said the dedicated organizers have shown him he's not clear of a challenge.

"I am going to have to be vigilent because these people made it clear they are going to give me a strong campaign next year," he said.


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