Randy Hopper

Last updated

Hopper was subject to an active recall effort. On March 2, 2011, the "Committee to Recall Hopper" officially registered with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. [12] 15,269 valid signatures of electors residing within the 18th district had to be collected by May 2, 2011, to generate a recall election. His estranged wife reportedly signed his recall petition. [13] [6] [14] [7] [15] [8]

A March 9, 2011, poll by Survey USA showed that voters in Hopper's district would vote for recall by 11 points. [16] A March 10–13, 2011, poll by PPP (sponsored by Daily Kos) showed that voters in Hopper's district disapprove of his job performance 47-38 and support recall by 11 points. When asked if they would vote for Hopper or a generic Democratic candidate, Hopper trailed by 5% with 44% saying they would vote for Hopper again and 49% saying they would vote for the Democratic candidate. [17] He was seen as particularly vulnerable to recall, considering that his victory in the 2008 election came only after a mandatory recount; the margin of victory was 163 votes. [18]

On March 29, 2011, it was reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the recall organizers appeared to have enough signatures to force a recall election. On April 7, 2011, organizers filed 23,946 signatures [19] to recall Senator Hopper with the Government Accountability Board in Madison. [20]

On April 13, 2011, Oshkosh Deputy Mayor Jessica King, who lost to Hopper by 163 votes in 2008, announced she would run against Hopper in a potential recall election. [21]

In late May 2011, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board verified petitions against Hopper, and scheduled the recall election for July 12, 2011. [22] King defeated Hopper in the recall election with 51.13% of the vote, 28,188 to 26,937.[ citation needed ]

2011 arrest

In October 2011, Hopper was arrested on a charge of drunk driving. [23] [24] In December, he pleaded not guilty and his jury trial started March 22, 2012. [25] [26] During the trial, Hopper's attorney, Dennis Melowski, argued that county employees, including the arresting officer, "were out to get him". [27] [28] [29]

On March 23, 2012, a jury found Hopper not guilty. [30] [31]

Taxes

According to reporting by the Fond du Lac Reporter, Hopper paid state income tax once in the period between 1997 and 2008. The three businesses he owned had paid no net income tax during the same period. [32] [33] [34]

Electoral history

Randy Hopper
Randy Hopper (modified).jpg
Hopper in 2008
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 18th district
In office
January 3, 2009 –August 9, 2011
Wisconsin State Senate district 18 election 2008 [35]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Randy Hopper41,90450.05%
Democratic Jessica King41,74149.86%
Scattering79.09%
Wisconsin State Senate district 18 recall election 2011 [36]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Jessica King28,81151.13%
Republican Randy Hopper26,93748.86%

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Hansen (politician)</span> American politician

Dave Hansen is an American Democratic politician and former state legislator. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from 2001 through 2021, representing the 30th senatorial district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Walker (politician)</span> American politician (born 1967)

Scott Kevin Walker is an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Milwaukee County executive from 2002 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Grothman</span> American politician & lawyer (born 1955)

Glenn S. Grothman is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to his seat in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Olsen</span> American politician

Luther S. Olsen is an American politician and former member of the Wisconsin Legislature. A Republican, he served 16 years in the Wisconsin State Senate (2005–2021) and ten years in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1994–2005). Olsen was one of several Wisconsin state senators to survive the 2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Kapanke</span> American politician

Daniel E. Kapanke is an American politician who was a former Republican member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 32nd District from 2005 until losing his seat to Jennifer Shilling in the 2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leah Vukmir</span> Wisconsin politician

Leah Vukmir is an American politician and nurse who served as a member of the Wisconsin Senate. A Republican, she represented Wisconsin's 5th District. She previously served in the Wisconsin Assembly. Vukmir was the Republican nominee in the 2018 U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin, running unsuccessfully against incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin. In March 2019, Vukmir became vice president of state affairs at the National Taxpayers Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Johnson</span> American politician (born 1955)

Ronald Harold Johnson is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold. He was reelected in 2016, defeating Feingold in a rematch, and in 2022, narrowly defeating Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 United States Senate election in Wisconsin</span>

The 2012 United States Senate election in Wisconsin took place on November 6, 2012, alongside a U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Senator Herb Kohl retired instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. This was the first open Senate seat in Wisconsin since 1988, when Kohl won his first term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Wisconsin protests</span> Demonstrations against proposed state legislation

The 2011 Wisconsin protests were a series of demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin in the United States beginning in February involving as many as 100,000 protesters opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin Budget Repair bill." The protests centered on the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, with satellite protests also occurring at other municipalities throughout the state. Demonstrations took place at various college campuses, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. After the collective bargaining bill was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 14, the number of protesters declined to about 1,000 within a couple days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections</span>

Recall elections for nine Wisconsin state senators were held during the summer of 2011; one was held on July 19, and six on August 9, with two more held on August 16. Voters attempted to put 16 state senators up for recall, eight Democrats and eight Republicans, because of the budget bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker and circumstances surrounding it. Republicans targeted Democrats for leaving the state for three weeks to prevent the bill from receiving a vote, while Democrats targeted Republicans for voting to significantly limit public employee collective bargaining. Scholars could cite only three times in American history when more than one state legislator has been recalled at roughly the same time over the same issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica King</span> American lawyer and politician

Jessica Jeane King is an American lawyer and politician from Wisconsin. She is a former Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 18th district when elected in 2011. She defeated incumbent Republican Senator Randy Hopper in a special recall election on August 9, 2011, and took office August 25, 2011; but lost the seat the following year to another Republican, Rick Gudex, in the November 2012 general election, which reverted that chamber back to Republican control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election</span>

The 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election was a special election to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. It resulted in voters re-electing incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker over the Democratic candidate Tom Barrett by a larger margin than in 2010 when Walker also faced Barrett. Recall organizers opposed Walker's agenda, particularly his limiting of collective bargaining rights for state employees and they collected over 900,000 signatures to initiate the recall election process. There was also a recall for Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. She won her race, defeating Democrat Mahlon Mitchell, making her the first lieutenant governor to run in and survive a recall.

Richard "Rick" Gudex was an American manufacturing production manager and Republican politician from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He was the former Fond du Lac City Council president, and on November 6, 2012, he defeated incumbent Democrat Jessica King from her seat in the Wisconsin State Senate's 18th District by 590 votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election</span>

The 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker sought re-election to a third term, and was challenged by Democratic candidate and then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, as well as Libertarian Phil Anderson and independent Maggie Turnbull. Evers, along with his running mate Mandela Barnes, managed to defeat Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch in a closely fought and widely watched race, ending the state's Republican trifecta.

A recall election in the state of Wisconsin is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin</span>

The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the eight U.S. representatives from the state of Wisconsin, one from each of the state's eight congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The Wisconsin Partisan Primary was held on August 14, 2018, with the governor, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, odd-numbered Wisconsin State Senate seats, and all Wisconsin Assembly seats on the ballot.

Dan Feyen is an American Republican politician and retired printer from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Wisconsin's 18th Senate district since 2017, and has been assistant majority leader in the Senate since 2019. He also served nearly a decade as chairman of the Fond du Lac County Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Wisconsin elections</span>

The 2021 Wisconsin Spring Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on April 6, 2021. There was one statewide race—for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Additionally, two special elections occurred for the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly, as well as other nonpartisan local and judicial elections. The 2021 Spring primary was held on February 16, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Wisconsin State Assembly election</span>

The Wisconsin State Assembly elections of 2022 were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. All 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly were up for election. This was the first and only election to take place after redistricting following the 2020 United States census, where the courts had put in place maps set out in the Johnson decision. Before the election, 61 Assembly seats were held by Republicans and 38 seats were held by Democrats. The primary election was held on August 9, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Wisconsin elections</span>

The 2023 Wisconsin Spring Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on April 4, 2023. The featured race at the top of the ticket was for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which became the most expensive judicial election in history. Several other nonpartisan local and judicial offices were also decided on the April 4 ballot, including mayoral elections in some of Wisconsin's larger cities—Green Bay, Madison, and Racine. In addition, a special election was held in the 8th State Senate district, concurrent with the Spring elections. The 2023 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held February 21, 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, ed. (2009). State of Wisconsin 2009-2010 Blue Book (PDF). Madison: Wisconsin Legislature Joint Committee on Legislative Organization. p. 54.
  2. ↑ "Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations". Federal Communications Commission. December 21, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Recall Election: Republican State Senator Randy Hopper stands by budget repair vote during recall - WITI". www.fox6now.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06.
  4. ↑ "John Nichols: Unemployment spikes under Walker, GOP". 31 July 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Randy Hopper: 2011-12 Committees". State of Wisconsin. 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  6. 1 2 Kottke, Colleen (March 14, 2011). "State Sen. Randy Hopper not residing at Fond du Lac home". Fond du Lac Reporter . Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "GOP Senator's Wife Claims He No Longer Lives In District". Madison, Wisconsin: WISC-TV. March 14, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  8. 1 2 Trevey, Mick (March 15, 2011). "Capitol Chaos: Was State Senator In Affair?". Milwaukee, Wisconsin: WTMJ-TV . Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  9. ↑ tgalli (March 22, 2011). "State officials defend worker's big pay raise". Madison, Wisconsin: WKOW . Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Salary boosted for worker with ties to Hopper". Madison, Wisconsin: WKOW. March 18, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Hopper denies role in state employee's hire". Madison, Wisconsin: WKOW. March 16, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Committee to Recall Hopper". Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  13. ↑ Black, Eric (March 15, 2011). "Wisconsin senator's wife plans to sign recall petition against him". MinnPost. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Fond du Lac Senator Faces Recall and Scandal". Sheboygan, Wisconsin: WHBL. March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  15. ↑ Bice, Daniel (March 14, 2011). "Hopper recall effort turns ugly". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  16. ↑ Sargent, Greg (March 10, 2011). "Poll: Majorities support recall of two Wisconsin GOP senators". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  17. ↑ Nir, David (March 15, 2011). "Wisconsin recall: 3 GOP state senators trail Generic Dem, more at risk". Daily Kos . Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Complaint filed with AG's office against GOP Sen. Hopper". Wisconsin State Journal. Associated Press. March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  19. ↑ Sargent, Greg (April 7, 2011). "Recall momentum continues: Dems collect huge number of signatures to recall Randy Hopper". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
  20. ↑ Tolan, Tom (April 7, 2011). "Signatures filed to recall Sen. Randy Hopper; more possible". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  21. ↑ "King announces she will challenge Hopper in Senate recall election". Fond du Lac Reporter. April 13, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
  22. ↑ "GAB Clears Way For 3 GOP Recall Elections - Politics News Story - WISC Madison". Channel3000.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  23. ↑ Fond du Lac State Senator arrested on OWI charge, fdlreporter.com. Accessed October 25, 2022.
  24. ↑ Ex-Senator arrested for drunken driving says he did nothing wrong, greenbaypressgazette.com. Accessed October 25, 2022.
  25. ↑ Hopper Scheduled for Jury Trial Archived 2012-09-05 at archive.today - www.nbc26.com
  26. ↑ "Ex-state Sen. Randy Hopper to face OWI trial in March", Appleton Post Crescent, December 15, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Former Wisconsin Senator Randy Hopper says at drunken driving trial officer was out to get him because of collective bargaining vote". Appleton Post-Crescent. March 22, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  28. ↑ "OWI trial: Hopper says county employees were out to get him". Fond du Lac Reporter. March 22, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  29. ↑ Daniel Bice (March 22, 2012). "Ex-senator offers tearful testimony at OWI trial". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  30. ↑ Former state senator Randy Hopper found not guilty on OWI charge, fdlreporter.com. Accessed October 25, 2022.
  31. ↑ "State appeals dismissal in Randy Hopper OWI refusal case" . Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Sen. Hopper's sleazy attacks won't erase his tax avoidance". 16 July 2011.
  33. ↑ Roznik, Sharon (October 24, 2008). "Hopper fends off tax questions". The Reporter. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012.
  34. ↑ Hopper, Alysia (October 31, 2008). "Hopper opponents have taken low road in Senate campaign". The Reporter. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012.
  35. ↑ "Fall General Election – 11/04/2008; State Senate, District No. 18 – Recount" (PDF). Wisconsin State Elections Board. November 26, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  36. ↑ "August 9 recall election results". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. August 9, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.