Trump allies' effort to oust Wisconsin's top GOP official heads to court

The effort to recall Wisconsin's Assembly Speaker Robin Vos heads to court this morning — a hearing that could make an already messy situation messier.

A Dane County judge is hearing oral arguments about whether to allow organizers of the recall push additional time to respond to a challenge to the effort filed by Vos.

In their petition, recall organizers said there was “good cause for an extension” to respond to Vos because they were awaiting clarity from the Wisconsin Supreme Court about what district boundaries should be used in the recall effort.

The high court complicated that argument last week, when it unanimously rejected a request to determine which district boundaries should be used for recall elections, saying it is the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s responsibility to administer elections, not the court.

In a filing submitted to the Dane County court before the state Supreme Court’s order, attorneys for Vos argued there’s no need for an extension because organizers did not obtain the needed valid signatures “under either potential legislative district map.”

Vos’ attorneys also argued an extension “would be unduly prejudicial to Vos, as it effectively allows the (recall organizers) additional time to cure deficiencies in the Recall petition.”

Neither an attorney for the recall organizers, Kevin Scott, nor attorneys for Vos responded to questions about how they plan to proceed in light of the high court ruling.

WEC is working against an April 11 deadline to determine whether there were sufficient signatures to trigger a recall election.

The saga commenced in January when Matthew Snorek, a Burlington resident, began circulating a recall petition against Vos, the powerful Republican leader of the Assembly and longest-serving speaker in state history. Snorek is seeking to recall Vos over the speaker’s opposition to impeaching Meagan Wolfe, the nonpartisan administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and earlier pledges to stop Donald Trump from being the GOP presidential nominee. Vos reversed course last month and endorsed Trump.

In March, Snorek said he submitted almost 11,000 signatures to WEC, several thousand more than the 6,850 signatures required to trigger a recall election.

However, an initial review from WEC staff found that recall organizers were short of the necessary signatures from residents in Vos’ district.

The signatures submitted by Snorek were also plagued with claims of fraud. Marie Mutter, who lives in Dover, told Wisconsin Watch in an interview that she and her husband never signed the petition to recall Vos, despite both of their names appearing on the documents submitted by Snorek.

“Honestly, it made me sick to my stomach,” Mutter said of discovering her name had apparently been forged on the petition. “It felt like a punch to the gut.”

The Racine County district attorney is investigating 30 complaints from residents who said their signatures were forged by recall signature collectors.

Vos filed a challenge to the recall petition, arguing that a preliminary WEC review found only 5,905 valid signatures in his old 63rd Assembly District and others that were “plagued with fraud and criminality.”

The speaker also argued that a December Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that the state’s legislative maps were unconstitutional prevents a recall election from occurring in his old district. Vos was moved into the 33rd district under maps drawn by Gov. Tony Evers and approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Vos’ challenge, filed last month, triggered a five-day rebuttal window for recall organizers — a deadline that passed March 26. Snorek asked a Dane County judge on March 25 to extend the rebuttal deadline until after the state Supreme Court determined which district boundaries should be used for a recall election, setting up today’s court hearing.

The speaker has been sharply critical of Snorek and his allies. Speaking at a WisPolitics.com event, Vos called the recall organizers “whack jobs.”

“The people who organized this are so out of touch with reality," Vos said. "And I'm just going to keep saying it over and over again: They are morons. They are stupid."

Late last month, Snorek launched a second recall effort against Vos.