Tea-Publican Tyranny in Wisconsin: Democratic Primary Election on Tuesday

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You gotta hand it to these tyrannical teabaggers and their contempt for the electoral process. Fake Democrats in Wisconsin's open primary system to delay the general election, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars? Really? Is there nothing so low to which they will not stoop? Fake Democrats face real ones in recall primaries:

Isaac Weix is one of six fake Democrats running in recall elections under a move organized by the state Republican Party to delay the general election for a month. The Republicans got members of their party to run as Democrats, giving the real candidates a challenger for Tuesday's primary.

All six Republican incumbent senators have no challengers and will advance to the Aug. 9 general election. That means the primaries won't offer any clue whether the voter anger that spurred the recalls will translate into big wins for Democrats.

If Democrats [net] pick up three seats, they will control the Senate and be able to block Walker and the GOP's agenda. Democratic losses would further embolden Republicans as they defend the collective bargaining changes that led to the recalls to begin with.

But before that question is answered in August, there are the six primary elections.

None of the fake Democrats, including Weix, are campaigning or raising money.

While the Republican Party supported putting the fake Democrats on the ballot, it is not encouraging them to campaign or providing them with any support, said party spokeswoman Katie McCallum.

The goal was to delay the elections and give the incumbents, who were in session in Madison until late June, more time to campaign, McCallum said.

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[T]he legitimate Democrats say the tactic forced local governments to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on primary elections, confuses voters and shows contempt for the electoral process.

"For some people it just infuriates them," said Democratic state Rep. Sandy Pasch, who is running in the 8th District. "They are very angry at this delay tactic. They find it a total waste of taxpayer dollars and they see this as shenanigans and does not give them a good feeling about the Republican Party."

The recalls mark the largest concerted effort to remove incumbents in Wisconsin history.

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There is no estimate on how high turnout will be Tuesday, but Democrats say voters are engaged. The races have certainly captured national interest, with more than three dozen special interest groups and political action committees either already spending money on the races or signaling their intent to get involved.

A coalition of unions backing Democrats has said it's raised more than $4 million for the recalls.

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Adding another wrinkle to the primary is that it's the first election since passage of a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. That doesn't kick in until next year, so voters will be asked to show IDs to begin getting used to the process but can still vote without them.

Other changes affecting voting will be in place Tuesday, including a requirement that voters have lived in the district where they are casting their ballot for at least 28 days, up from the previous 10-day minimum.

The candidates on the primary ballot Tuesday are:

2nd District: Former De Pere mayor and Brown County board member Nancy Nusbaum (real Democrat), and Otto Junkermann (fake Democrat). The winner faces Republican Sen. Rob Cowles.

8th District: State Rep. Sandy Pasch (real Democrat), and Gladys Huber (fake Democrat). The winner faces Republican Sen. Alberta Darling.

10th District: Shelly Moore (real Democrat), and Isaac Weix (fake Democrat). The winner faces Republican Sen. Sheila Harsdorf and independent B.J. Cook.

14th District: State Rep. Fred Clark (real Democrat), and Rol Church (fake Democrat). The winner faces Republican Sen. Luther Olsen.

18th District: Attorney Jessica King (real Democrat), and John Buckstaff (fake Democrat). The winner faces Republican Sen. Randy Hopper.

32nd District: State Rep. Jennifer Shilling (real Democrat), and James Smith (fake Democrat). The winner faces Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke.

In addition, the Republican Party Primary Election (uncontested) takes place on July 19. The six incumbent Senate Republicans stand for recall election on August 9.

The three incumbent Senate Democrats stand for recall election on August 16.

Several of the candidates running for Senate are members of the Assembly. If they are elected to the Senate, the vacancy in their Assembly seat(s) will require a special election to fill the vacancy, as occurred earlier this year in Wisconsin.

Democracy in action is hard work, people. Arizonans should learn from our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin how to be prepared for the recall election of "King" Russell Pearce this November.

UPDATE: Apparenty there is no depth to which Tea-Publicans will sink. GOP allies hatching sleazy dirty tricks in Wisconsin recall wars – The Plum Line:

It looks like allies of Wisconsin Republicans are growing so desperate that they’re resorting to sleazy dirty tricks in their last-ditch bid to help the GOP hang on to the state senate.

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Now there's been a new twist to this tale.

Allies of one of the top GOP targets in the recalls, state senator Randy Hopper, are circulating flyers in his district trying to get out the vote for the fake Dem in the Democratic primary against his Dem opponent.

You can view the flyer, which was found and passed along by We Are Wisconsin, right here.

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Buckstaff, even though he’s running in a Dem primary, is an 81 year old Republican and donor to … GOP state senator Randy Hopper.

And here’s the real rub — the flyer is geared towards getting Republican voters to go out and vote in the Dem primary. [Wisconsin is an open primary state.] It does this by claiming that real Dem Jessica King is a union stooge and that Buckstaff will “roll up his sleeves and work with Governor Walker to eliminate special privileges for government unions.” This, in a Dem primary!

For Wisconsin GOP allies, this takes tampering in Dem primaries to a whole new level.

Attempts to use cross-over voting in Wisconsin's open primary system have rarely, if ever, been successful. I cannot recall the last time this worked. If you know of a case, please post a comment.