Pam Galloway recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2011-2012)

Wisconsin State Senate recall
Officeholders
Pam Galloway
Recall status
Resigned
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2012 Recalls in Wisconsin Wisconsin recall laws State legislative recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall Pam Galloway, a member of the Republican Party, from her elected position representing District 29 in the Wisconsin State Senate was launched on November 15, 2011.^[1][2]

Galloway resigned her seat but the recall went forward with state Reps. Jerry Petrowski (R) and Donna Seidel (D) vying for the seat, which Petrowski won.^[3]

Supporters of the recall submitted over 21,000 signatures on January 17, 2012. The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board voted unanimously on March 12 to order the recall, determining that at least 18,511 of the signatures were valid.^[4]

The primary took place on May 8 and general election was June 5.^[5]

Galloway resigned her seat effective March 17, 2012. She announced her resignation the previous day, right after the conclusion of the 2012 legislative session, but said that the recall had nothing to do with her decision.^[6] The recall was still ordered and Republicans used a replacement candidate. Candidates had until April 10 to collect 400 signatures in order to run for the seat.^[7]

Prior to her resignation, Galloway called the recall "inappropriate," explaining “I have done exactly what I said I would do when I campaigned. My commitment was clearly prioritizing the needs of the taxpayers. That’s what I’ve done, either through Act 10 or balancing the budget without tax increases.”^[8]

Timeline[edit]

See also: Timeline of events of the recall of Wisconsin State Senators in 2012

• November 15, 2011: Democrats filed recall petition against Pam Galloway.
• January 17, 2012: Organizers turned in over 21,000 signatures to recall Galloway to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
• January 31: State Rep. Donna Seidel (D) announced she would challenge Galloway if a recall was scheduled
• February 9: Galloway submitted a signature challenge, contesting 3,817 signatures.
• March 12: GAB voted unanimously to order a recall election.
• March 14: Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess signed an agreement scheduling the primary for May 8 with general election on June 5.
• March 16: Galloway submitted her resignation from the Senate effective March 17.
• May 8: Donna Seidel defeated James Buckley to win the Democratic primary.
• June 5: Petrowski defeated Seidel to win the seat.

Path to the ballot[edit]

The Committee to Recall Pam Galloway filed a petition on November 15, 2011. They had 60 days to collect 15,647 signatures to force a recall election. Nancy Tabaka-Stencil, whose name was on the petition documents, said "Really, to pick a single issue (that encouraged a recall effort) is hard. Their actions have hit a lot of people hard.”^[8]

On December 15, Democrats announced they had collected over 10,000 signatures on recall petitions.^[9] On January 17, 2012, organizers turned in over 21,000 signatures.^[10]

In response, Galloway stated, "my campaign will review each and every signature to make certain that they are valid and documented in accordance with state law. I owe it to those who made their voices heard in 2010 and who did not sign the recall petitions to carefully examine these signatures collected by the paid surrogates of Madison-based special interests."^[11]

Galloway had ten days to challenge the signatures.^[12]

Signature verification[edit]

Under state law, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has 31 days to determine if enough valid signatures were submitted to force a recall. However, with 1.9 million signatures to review for six recalls, they asked a judge for extra time on January 20, 2012. Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess granted the extension on January 25, giving the board an additional 30 days.^[13]

The state purchased software from Artsyl Technologies to help with the process. Workers scanned the petitions into computers and the software read the names and converted them into type. A human operator verified the name, correcting any errors before it was entered into a database. The databases could then be used to check for duplicate signatures.^[14]

The petitions were processed in a secret location, but a webcam was set up to provide a live feed of the work.^[15] Following posting of the petitions for Galloway online, watchdog group Media Trackers said they found several signature pages that are essentially copies of other pages.^[16]

Under state law, Galloway had only 10 days to challenge the validity of the petitions starting on January 18. However, as GAB officials were not able to readily provide Galloway with the signatures against her, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess extended the period to 20 days.^[17]

Signature challenge[edit]

Galloway submitted an official signature challenge on February 9, contesting 3,817 signatures.^[18]

Candidates[edit]

Donna Seidel (D) lost to Jerry Petrowski (R) in the recall election on June 5, 2012.

Recall of Wisconsin State Senator Pam Galloway, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jerry Petrowski	61.3%	44,107
	Democratic	Donna Seidel	38.6%	27,744
	-	Scattering	0.1%	58
Total Votes				71,909
Source: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

Marathon County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Johnson announced on January 12, 2012, that he would run against Galloway if a recall election was called. He is a retired probation and parole agent and held various elected positions within the AFSCME.^[19]

Johnson said Galloway's support for limits on collective bargaining was not the only reason he wanted to see her recalled, stating, "Sadly, Pam Galloway is not concentrating on what's most important to our area, jobs. At the same time that over 1,000 people in the Wausau area have lost their jobs, she is focusing on limiting sex education and making sure people can buy booze at six in the morning."^[20]

State Rep. Donna Seidel (D) announced on January 31 that she would challenge Galloway in a recall. In response Galloway's campaign issued a press release stating, “Senator Galloway will not bend to the greedy Madison special interests and public sector union bosses who are behind this recall effort. It is Donna Seidel’s inability to say no to these left wing special interest groups that nearly drove Wisconsin off an economic cliff.”^[21]

Johnson announced he would no longer be running, but would run for Seidel's seat in the Assembly if she defeated Galloway.

Following Galloway's resignation, Jerry Petrowski (R) announced on March 21 that he would run for the seat against Seidel.^[22]

James Buckley is a Republican but ran as a Democrat in order to ensure a primary in the race. The state GOP announced in March that they would be recruiting protest candidates for the primaries to make sure the recalls would all happen on the same day.^[23]

Wisconsin State Senate District 29 Recall - Democratic Primary Democratic Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Donna Seidel	63.5%	17,930
James Buckley	35.8%	10,099
Scattering	0.8%	217
Total Votes		28,246
Source: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

Legal issues[edit]

Recalls in old districts or new?[edit]

On November 18, 2011, a group of citizens asked a federal court to make sure that the recall elections took place in the old districts where the legislators were elected from, rather than the newly drawn districts.^[24] Three days later, a group of Republicans asked the state Supreme Court to require any recall elections take place in the new districts. The new districts, drawn by the Republican majority, would help the GOP.^[25]

During the first week of November Republicans in the Senate attempt to fast-track a bill that would have immediately implemented the new Senate districts while allowing the old Assembly districts to remain. A vote on the bill was indefinitely delayed when Republican Sen. Dale Schultz said he would not vote for it, denying the necessary majority.

Republicans filed a second lawsuit in Waukesha County on November 29, requesting a panel of three circuit court judges hear the case. The new GOP suit was filed to make sure proper procedures are followed in the case.^[26] On December 2, Republicans asked to withdraw their first lawsuit, a move Democrats immediately tried to block, saying the court should keep the case and dismiss it at a later date. The request came after it was known that Justice David Prosser, sidelined with an illness, would not take part in the case.^[27] That same day, Republicans amended their complaint, requesting a single Waukesha County judge hear the case, rather than the three-judge panel.^[28]

Three days later, Republicans announced they were switching lawyers in the case, from the law firm of Michael, Best and Friedrich, to attorney Michael Dean. Michael, Best and Friedrich was the same firm used by Republicans during the redistricting process.^[29]

Walker lawsuit[edit]

On December 15, Governor Scott Walker's campaign and the state Republican Party director filed suit against the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in Waukesha County Circuit Court. The lawsuit asks that a judge require GAB to search for and strike duplicate signatures, fake names and illegible addresses.

Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state Republican Party, stated, "The decision of one individual who chooses to sign a recall petition should not carry more weight than the decision of another who chooses not to sign. This lawsuit seeks to protect the Wisconsin electors whose voices have been trumped by those purposefully signing multiple petitions."^[30]

Currently, GAB reviews signatures to ensure there are enough to trigger a recall and verify they include a Wisconsin address and are dated during the recall period. It is up to challengers to point out potential issues with signatures.^[31]

On December 20, The Recall Walker Committee, as well as the committees to recall Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and three Republican state senators, filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss the suit. They argued that the suit was designed to create uncertainty, disruptions and expenses in the recall process.^[32] At a hearing on December 29, Judge Mac Davis, a former Republican state Senator, denied the motion to intervene, citing the need for speed and desire to avoid possible "chaos" that could come if new parties were allowed in the case.^[33]

Davis issued a ruling on January 5, 2012, stating that GAB must take "reasonable" actions to eliminate duplicate and illegal signatures from recall petitions. However, he gave them discretion to decide how to achieve that, noting that requiring such action "is limited by the resources and ability they have or are reasonably able to obtain." GAB Director Kevin Kennedy said they will have to discuss the decision in order to determine what procedures in their process they will need to change.^[34]

On February 3, the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Madison overturned the ruling that denied recall organizers from joining the suit, stating that they had a valid interest to join. The ruling also threw out Judge Davis' decision that GAB must actively seek to strike fake and duplicate signatures. The case went back to Davis.^[35]

Campaign contributions[edit]

Ads relating to the campaign[edit]

Additional reading[edit]

• Wausau Daily Herald, "John Spiegelhoff: Why we're recalling Sen. Galloway," December 5, 2011
• Wausau Daily Herald, "Eno column: Why we shouldn't recall Galloway," December 12, 2011
• The Cap Times, "Q&A: Sen. Pam Galloway on concealed carry, recalls and leadership," December 19, 2011
• Wausau Daily Herald, "Group recruits help for Galloway recall effort," January 4, 2012

Official documents[edit]

• Committee to Recall Pam Galloway campaign registration statement
• All recall petitions against Galloway

See also[edit]

• Timeline of events of the recall of Wisconsin State Senators in 2012
• Recall campaigns in Wisconsin
• Political recall efforts, 2012
• Laws governing recall in Wisconsin
• Scott Walker recall, Wisconsin (2012)
• Rebecca Kleefisch recall, Wisconsin (2012)
• Recall of Wisconsin State Senators (2011)
• Scott Fitzgerald recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)
• Van Wanggaard recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)
• Terry Moulton recall, Wisconsin State Senate (2012)

External links[edit]

• GAB - Committee to Recall Pam Galloway
• Recall Pam Galloway Facebook page

Footnotes[edit]