With about a month left to go in the search for recall signatures, campaign organizers against state Sens. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac and David Hansen, D-Green Bay, say they will soon reach their goals and be able to get the recall elections started.
The Committee to Recall Dan Kapanke, R-LaCrosse, was the first to submit its petition Friday after gathering the 15,588 necessary signatures. If the Government Accountability Board validates the signatures, the Republican lawmaker from La Crosse will have to run for his seat again in the coming months.
Democratic Party of Fond du Lac County Chair Rich Mantz said they are in the process of confirming they have the proper amount of signatures against Hopper, and if they have not yet reached it they are ""probably not far off.""
Hopper won his district in 2008 with a slim majority and is receiving flack for his vote for the budget repair law as well as for the scandal surrounding his personal life. Because of this, Mantz said even conservatives are joining in the recall effort.
Hopper was recently accused of not living in his district after separating from his wife and carrying on an affair with a 26-year-old legislative aid.
Mantz said his constituents are concerned he has ""gone Madison,"" adding, ""We don't even know if he lives here anymore.""
David Vander Leest, an organizer for the recall effort against Hansen, said people are angry over his decision to leave the state during the capitol crisis.
""After tomorrow's election day we should be pretty much at our threshold,"" Vander Leest said.
Vander Leest pinned the success of campaigns against Kapanke and Hopper on the amount of money being put into the efforts. He said Hansen's recall campaign, unlike the others, is truly grassroots.
