By Sarah Jones
The same tape that revealed state Senator Republican Kapanke worrying about the many public employees in his district, whom he “hopes are sleeping” on election day, also reveals the Wisconsin Republicans discussing planting a Democratic candidate in order to delay the recall election. Those boys in Wisconsin are never too far away from sleazy, are they?
Instead of having faith in their record or in the voters pleasure with them, the Republicans were planning to hunt down a spoiler candidate in order to beat Democrat Jennifer Shilling in Kapanke’s district.
The Lacrosse Tribune reports:
La Crosse County Republicans discussed running a spoiler candidate against Democrat Jennifer Shilling in an effort to delay the recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, according to a secret recording of the party’s general membership meeting last week.
On the recording obtained by the Tribune, party vice chairman Julian Bradley says he just spoke with Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state GOP, and “we are actively keeping our ears to the ground and if anybody knows anybody for a candidate that would be interested on the Democratic side in running in the primary against Jennifer Shilling…. So if anybody knows any Democrats who would be interested, please let us know.”
Kapanke, a second-term Republican, is expected to face a recall election July 12, unless more than one challenger comes forward. Shilling, a five-term state representative from La Crosse, is the only candidate to declare her intention to run.
Should a primary be necessary, the general election would be pushed back, according to scenarios proposed by the Government Accountability Board.
That, Bradley said on the tape, “would give the state senator an extra month to campaign in. The opposition would obviously have to spend more time and more money.”
The recalls are currently scheduled for July 12, 2011, but with the Government Accountability Board requiring more time to review the petitions against three Democrats due to numerous legal issues, they may be pushed back. Six recall petitions have been approved against Republicans. It’s unclear that the Republicans would gain much by a delay, because if the recalls are pushed far enough back then the students would be back and students tend to vote Democratic.
Maybe the Republicans intend to implement their draconian new voter disenfranchisement laws (which will make it very difficult for students to vote) in spite of the almost inevitable legal challenges. Oh, right, legal challenges don’t mean anything to the Wisconsin Republicans. If they don’t like a law, they just work around it and when they’re busted, they claim legislative immunity.
The Wisconsin Republicans are desperate at this point, and since they can’t count on the voters liking them for their record or conduct, once again they’ve been busted trying to hijack the democratic process with dirty tricks.
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