David Michael Miller
It’s a familiar story by now. Two legislators, one from the Assembly and one from the Senate, resigned on Dec. 29, 2017, in order to take jobs working in Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.
What Walker should have done next is made clear by state law: “Any vacancy... occurring before the second Tuesday in May in the year in which a regular election is held to fill that seat shall be filled as promptly as possible by special election.”
The law is unambiguous. However, Walker used an extremely bad faith reading of the law, focusing on the clause “in the year in which a regular election is held.” According to his farcical interpretation, he is only required to call for a special election if lawmakers leave their seat during an election year. Because the resignations came in on Dec. 29, three days before said election year, he believes he wasn’t required to fill the seats.
Naturally, Democrats sued to force the governor to do one of his most basic duties and call for a special election. On March 22, Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds ruled against the governor, ordering that Walker call for the elections by March 29. Reynolds was appointed to her position by Walker.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) was quick with his typical knee-jerk reaction, calling out Judge Reynolds as an “activist Dane County judge” and the entirety of liberal Dane County. While it’s easy to dismiss this as more hypercharged political rhetoric, I found the statement chilling. Vos, one of the two most powerful figures in the Legislature, questioned the legitimacy of the judiciary.
In a rare move, Dane County Judge William Hanrahan, the newly installed chief judge for the state court system’s District 5, which includes Dane County, rebuked Vos. Hanrahan wrote in a letter to Vos. “With a broad brush, you have not only needlessly besmirched my reputation and that of my colleagues, you have gratuitously denigrated the good citizens of Dane County.”
Walker, Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald have called an extraordinary legislative session in order to change the law to negate the court’s ruling. Mind you, this was after Fitzgerald said there wasn’t time left to vote on bills that would have increased penalties for animal abuse (see this week’s Off the Square) or a bill that would have strengthened background checks on long guns.
Walker’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to extend the deadline established by Reynolds, arguing that calling elections now would cause confusion to voters. Dane County Judge Richard Niess rejected that ridiculous argument.
Undeterred, Walker has appealed the court decisions and GOP lawmakers are still trying to pass their legislation. Given all of this, Walker could call this week for special elections that, potentially, would be cancelled if the new legislation becomes law. On again and off again democracy. Wait, weren’t Walker’s lawyers trying to prevent confusion?
What’s astounding to me is that the governor, Vos and Fitzgerald are willing to rewrite state law and deny so many a constitutional right in order to win a pathetically small victory. Republicans could lose both seats and easily hold the majority for the rest of the session. Additionally, both seats in question will be on the ballot again in November 2018. The only real advantage for the winner of the special election is a modicum of extra name recognition.
The biggest risk for Republicans is in the narrative. Democrats win either or both of these deferred special elections and the notion of a Democratic wave gets further cemented in the minds of voters.
The benefits may be small but the consequences are huge. If the Legislature passes a bill making it easier for the governor to delay calling for a special election, that power can and likely will be abused by future governors. The Senate’s proposed legislation gives the governor much more leeway in determining when to call for a special election. Imagine a scenario where control of the senate is determined by a narrow, one-seat margin. Then, a senator leaves. In this scenario, the governor can shift the balance of power in the Legislature through inaction.
I can’t believe staving off Democratic enthusiasm is worth these flagrant perversions of voting rights. It’s further evidence that the Republicans controlling this state are willing to do anything to hold on to power; elections are an optional nuisance to them.
The actions of Walker, Vos and Fitzgerald aren’t an attack on Democrats, they are an attack on democracy. This cannot stand. Call your representatives. Support the court fight against these efforts. Above all else, fight them at the ballot box in November. No one with such flagrant disregard for the vote deserves to receive a vote.
