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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums@GOP Gov. Walker, WI Wants to Change the Law So the GOP Can Avoid Losing a Special Election
This is what it is like in Wisconsin-a gerrymandered state. If Gov Walker and his Repug minions do not like a law, they change it!
Cathy Myers Verified account @CathyMyersWI
6h6 hours ago
Scott Walker is so afraid of the #BlueWave2018 that he is doing everything he can to stop elections from happening at all!
We're going to beat Paul Ryan in November, and there's nothing Scott Walker can do about it!
Link to tweet
March 23, 2018 7:55 pm
Gov. Walker Wants to Change the Law So the GOP Can Avoid Losing a Special Election
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/walker-wants-special-session-to-avoid-special-elections.html
The hammerheaded governor of Wisconsin wont let an adverse court decision thwart him. Hell just change the law the judge was applying! Photo: Andy Manis/Getty Images
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is nothing if not consistent. He refused to call two legislative special elections to fill vacancies his own appointments created because he didnt want to risk the kind of embarrassing Democratic wins and near-wins that have been happening all over the country since Donald Trump took office. A state judge one that Walker himself appointed, as it happens told him the law required that he hold these election because otherwise the citizens in the affected districts would be denied representation.
So how are Walker and the state GOP responding? Theyre trying to change the law on which the judge based her decision. And this isnt just a recommendation, either, as TPM reports:
Republican legislative leaders in Wisconsin called lawmakers back to the Capitol Friday afternoon to change state law governing special elections .
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Unsurprisingly, Wisconsin Democrats are going ballistic over this maneuver, calling it (among other things) a clear attack on democracy. But Scott Walker has always been impervious to this sort of criticism, and like a hammerhead shark, determined to continue his course of action, no matter what. Only the voters can deter him.
Wisconsin GOP will aim to block judge's order to Gov. Scott Walker to call special election
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/23/senate-gop-leader-wants-bill-undercut-judges-order-gov-scott-walker-schedule-special-election/453291002/
Jason Stein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 12:13 p.m. CT March 23, 2018 | Updated 5:02 p.m. CT March 23, 2018
Supreme 04 ofx nws woodBuy Photo
MADISON - One day after a judge dealt Republicans a setback by ordering special elections, Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow GOP leaders in the Legislature said they will pass legislation to block those elections.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said they would take up legislation to change special election rules after a Dane County judge ruled that Walker must call special elections to fill two legislative seats that have been vacant almost three months. Walker quickly committed to signing the bill, which has not yet been released.
"It would be senseless to waste taxpayer money on special elections just weeks before voters go to the polls when the Legislature has concluded its business. This is why I support, and will sign, the Senate and Assembly plan to clarify special election law," Walker said in a statement.
Democrats leapt to object, saying that Republicans were seeking to block a vote at a time when the GOP is underperforming in special elections. In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said Republican lawmakers are "clearly intimidated by the thought of losing power."
"Rather than depriving thousands of Wisconsin families of their constitutional right to representation, Senator Fitzgerald and Speaker (Robin) Vos need to get it together and focus on the problems they were sent here to fix," Shilling said.
RELATED: Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats
Walker had declined to call the special elections after two GOP lawmakers stepped down to join his administration in December. It's likely that the trial court ruling on the matter will be appealed and could result in the judge's order being blocked by the Supreme Court, which might render the question of legislation moot.
In a news conference Friday, Fitzgerald could offer no specifics on what legislative changes he would make to halt the elections and acknowledged he wasn't yet sure if such a bill would be constitutional. He and Vos said they were worried that the tight timeline of a special election might lead to the disenfranchisement of the federally protected voting rights of troops stationed overseas and other voters abroad..................................................
Attack on Democracy: Wisc. GOP Set To Change Law To Avoid Holding Election
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/wisconsin-gop-extraordinary-session-block-special-elections
By Allegra Kirkland | March 23, 2018 5:51 pm
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Vos and Fitzgerald said they made their decision in consultation with Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, who represented Walker in the lawsuit brought by a national Democratic group lead by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Attorneys for Holders group argued that refusing to hold the elections was textbook voter disenfranchisement. Wisconsin said there was no need to hold elections since the Legislatures regular session ended this week.
A Wisconsin judge ruled Thursday that refusing to hold the elections would disenfranchise thousands of voters who live in districts that have been unrepresented since two Republican lawmakers vacated their seats in December 2017.
Judge Josann Reynolds, who was appointed by Walker in 2014, ordered Walker to issue the order calling the special elections no later than March 29.
Schimels office told TPM on Friday morning that it had not yet decided whether it would appeal the ruling.
Both Holders group and the Wisconsin Democratic Party sent out statements blasting Republican lawmakers move to undermine Reynolds decision.
Holder said that Wisconsin Republicans appeared to be afraid of the voters and that his group was willing to take further legal action. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning struck a similar note, saying Republicans publicly embarrassed themselves by calling a legislative session that is a clear attack on democracy just so they can avoid losing more special elections.
In January, Democrat Patty Schachtner scored a big upset by winning a state Senate seat in a rural, conservative Wisconsin district. Walker called the victory a wake up call, and national Democrats pointed to it as the latest sign that they could see a huge wave in the November midterms......................
spike91nz
(180 posts)Have known for many years now that they cannot win except through cheating and corruption. They have no political ideology that offers real hope to the majority of citizens.
chuckstevens
(1,201 posts)dchill
(38,324 posts)BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)And not that different from what is going on here in PA, where the GOP wants to impeach 4 of the 5 Democratic State Supreme Court justices because they found the GOP gerrymandered bullshit congressional map violated the state constitution, and was FINALLY tossed out (7 years after it went into effect).
It will be a major battle now to dislodge this infection from the body politic of the United States.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)And how did the electorate allow it to happen?
Greybnk48
(10,148 posts)have a Mafia in Wisconsin heavily funded by the a pack of John Bircher's and mentally ill fetus fanatics: Kochs, Uihlein, Mercers, not to mention our homegrown Waukesha County "white trash with money."
mountain grammy
(26,571 posts)If this prevails Im very worried about November elections. I think were in grave danger.
strangedaysindeed
(226 posts)because their cheating apparatus won't be in place until then.
edhopper
(33,208 posts)But fuck them for electing this asshole twice and fuck them for voting for Trump (if they actually did?)
WI has to clean their house, soon.
FakeNoose
(32,356 posts)... not just in Wisconsin but everywhere they can get away with it. We'll remember 2016 as the year we finally woke up to this charade. Never again! Yes I realize that some of us have seen the GOP tricks for a lot longer.
The GOP cannot win unless they cheat and that's why they're always looking for ways to game the system. We need to be vigilant and catch them cheating, and clobber them with the Constitution every time.
Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)ewagner
(18,964 posts)of getting an injunction to prevent meddling with a court order but I'm afraid that the 'ol checks and balances issue will prevail.
Otherwise....
About the only thing we can do is let Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature know that they are giving us one more campaign issue to use against them (add to the blue wave) in the fall....
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)for deciding to ignore the courts ruling?
riversedge
(69,727 posts)I do not think that came from the Dane judge. More has to do with WI elections laws (which Walker chooses not to follow anyway)