Republican Sabotage Mars Election Process In Wisconsin Again

Yesterday Blue America hosted a live chat with Wisconsin legislative heroes Sen. Chris Larson and Assemblywoman Sandy Pasch over at Crooks and Liars. He represents a district in southern Milwaukee Co. and Sandy's is further north and then beyond Milwaukee into Ouzaukee and a bit of Waukesha. She's running for the state Senate seat currently held by Scott Walker puppet Alberta Darling. So far the State GOP has failed in their efforts to recruit a fake Democrat to challenge Sandy to a primary, though not through lack of trying.


Yesterday Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice confirmed the Republican Party's attempt to sabotage the Democratic efforts to replace the 6 recalled Republicans with progressive Democrats. He refers to it as "dirty tricks," but there is also a question of criminal behavior that needs to be looked at-- from a party notorious at trying to rig elections.

In letters obtained by No Quarter, local Republican Party officials are encouraging their GOP colleagues to collect enough signatures to get a fake Democratic candidate on the ballot in each of two upcoming recall elections.

The spoiler Democrats, who are identified by name in the letters, would run in the Democratic primaries for the seats now held by Republican Sens. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Luther Olsen of Ripon.

Both of the fake Democrats have a history of giving almost exclusively to major Republicans.

"We need to make sure Democrat challengers face primaries to allow our Republicans time to mount a campaign," Dan Feyen, chairman of the 6th Congressional District Republican Party, wrote in the letter to "fellow conservatives" on Friday.

"A Democratic primary," Feyen continued, "will push the general election back by one month, so that Senator Hopper can have more time to organize a campaign against his liberal challenger."
That's verbatim what is in the other two-page letter encouraging support for the second fake Democratic candidate, except that note substitutes Olsen's name for Hopper's.

By running these fake Democrats, Republicans would force the Democratic challengers to spend money on a primary that could have been used in the general election. Plus, the spoiler candidates could launch negative attacks on the Democrats while the Republican incumbents remain above the fray.

Feyen confirmed that he sent his letter trying to get a "protest candidate" on the ballot in the Hopper race.

What's more, he said there's a good explanation for why his letter and the one written by local Republican officials in Olsen's district were virtually the same.

"It's something being coordinated by the RPW," he said, referring to the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Today might be a good day to consider bolstering the campaigns of Jessica King, deputy mayor of Oshkosh, who's running against Hopper, and Assemblyman Fred Clark, who's challenging Olsen. You can contribute to both their campaigns-- as well as to the other Democrats running against Walker's shills at Blue America's Beyond Recalls.