Recall politics is old hat in Racine, where no incumbent is safe (WI)

JS Online ^ | 5-20-12 | Craig Gilbert

[afraidfortherepublic]

Racine – If there’s a battleground within the battleground in Wisconsin’s recall wars, this is it – a political no man’s land where the two parties have spent a quarter-century trading control of the same tenuous turf.

This is the only state Senate district in America whose voters have forced two recall elections.

It’s a district unique in Wisconsin for its volatility and thirst for change. It has changed partisan hands five times in 22 years. It has re-elected its state senators only twice since 1990, and booted them four times, a tally that could rise to five on June 5.

“It’s a wonderful thing for democracy. It’s very difficult for politicians. You get swept in and out, because it’s such a tight district,” says Democrat John Lehman, who got knocked off by Republican Van Wanggaard in 2010 and is trying to return the favor next month.

The Lehman-Wanggaard fight is the hottest of the four state Senate recall battles that coincide with the larger recall war over Gov. Scott Walker.

It comes 16 years after the voters of the Senate’s 21st District sent Racine Republican George Petak packing over his vote on a ballpark stadium tax, the first time a member of the Wisconsin Legislature had ever been removed by recall.

The Petak recall flipped the Wisconsin Senate. It cost the GOP unified control of state government, just as this race could. Some think it accelerated several trends in Wisconsin that are widely decried today on both sides: acid partisanship, perpetual electioneering, politics by any means.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Wisconsin a little bit of history of Racine politics

FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Who pays and who benefits?

[CMailBag]

These crazy recall laws need to be changed. Recalls should NOT be allowed unless the party in question has been convicted of a serious crime.
This is BS

[Lou L]

These crazy recall laws need to be changed. Recalls should NOT be allowed unless the party in question has been convicted of a serious crime.

I have a tendency to agree. I'm happy that Scott Walker seems to be doing well in his pre-recall polls, and if he wins in the end, Wisconsin will have done the right thing in keeping a good man in his rightful seat. However, look at the resources spent--the money raised from average Joes and Janes (not to mention the big money donors), the time, the energy that Walker had to put into defending his policies. What work had to be placed aside, what projects (public or private) could've been undertaken if the funds weren't spent on this recall?