By Pierce County Herald Staff, PIERCE COUNTY HERALD
July 18, 2011
Wisconsin recall elections see unprecedented spending on media ad campaigns featuring candidates...
ARTICLE — Some big money’s being spent in the nine Wisconsin Senate recall elections over the next month. The national tracking firm of C-M-A-G says three-quarter million-dollars have already been spent in the race involving Senate Republican Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls. And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the final spending total for the nine recalls could top 20-million – including ads from groups that don’t have to report their expenses. U-W Madison professor Ken Goldstein says many of the ads have nothing to do with the original reasons for the recalls in the first place – the senators’ actions on the bill to limit public union bargaining. Recent ads have featured the candidates’ backgrounds, problems involving their opponents, state spending and taxes, and even federal issues like Medicare. Strategists apparently believe that either most people have made up their mind about the collective bargaining issue – or they think other issues are more effective in swaying voters. C-M-A-G says the conservative Club-for-Growth and the labor coalition “We Are Wisconsin” has spent a combined 700-thousand dollars so far on recall T-V ads in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, and the nearby Twin Cities.
The first of nine Wisconsin senators who are up for recalls will learn his fate tomorrow. Green Bay Democrat Dave Hansen will be the only incumbent to have a general election this month. That’s because there’s only one Republican challenger, Dave VanderLeest of Green Bay. He organized the recall effort, saying Hansen should not have been absent from the State Capitol for three weeks while trying to stop the bill that limits public union bargaining. But VanderLeest has spent a lot of time defending his personal indiscretions. He’s had two disorderly conduct convictions since 2007, and media reports said he was also named in other investigations – all connected with domestic violence. VanderLeest could have had a primary tomorrow, but Assembly Republican John Nygren failed to get enough nominating signatures to get on the ballot. Meanwhile, two G-O-P primaries will be tomorrow to determine the challengers for Democratic senators Bob Wirch of Pleasant Prairie and Jim Holperin of Conover. Those Democrats and six Republican incumbents will have their general recall elections in August.