On February 5, a physician in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Hari Trivedi, announced his independent candidacy for Governor of Wisconsin via television ads. The ads were before and after the televised Superbowl football game, and cost him $17,000. See this story.
The next Wisconsin gubernatorial election is expected to be this year. Normally Wisconsin only elects its Governors in mid-term years. But in Wisconsin, when a recall petition is submitted, the result is to hold a special election for that office. The official being recalled runs, and parties (other than the party of the person being recalled) each also nominate a candidate. Independent candidates are free to join the race as well. Wisconsin only required 2,000 signatures for a statewide independent candidate. Most observers expect that the gubernatorial recall petition has enough signatures to cause the recall, although that is not yet a certainty.
It seems unfair to me that a recall election is held concurrently with another election for that same office. If I am not mistaken this is what happened in California with the Gray Davis recall. It would seem right to me to hold the recall election first and then worry about whether there needs to be another election for that office. The Lieutenant Governor could certainly act until a new election is held. I am sure the argument about cost of a second special election would be brought up but what is more important than getting it right without the distraction of a concurrent election for the same office?
In Wisconsin, there is no recall election. The effect of filing a successful Wisconsin recall petition is that the office is then deemed vacant and a whole new special election is held, in which the incumbent is one of the candidates.
Thanks, Richard. I obviously didn’t understand that.
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