 | |
| Abbreviation | UW |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2011 |
| Purpose | Political action committee |
| Headquarters | Madison, Wisconsin |
Founder | Michael Brown |
Staff | 4 |
Volunteers | 35,000 [1] |
United Wisconsin PAC is an independent political action committee, grassroots organization of citizens restoring the Wisconsin tradition of democracy in action. [2] United Wisconsin was a leading group in the effort to recall the Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker on June 5, 2012.
On February 11, 2011, Governor Walker unveils the budget repair bill, which includes plans to strip collective bargaining rights for most state employees and cuts in state aid to education. Days later, United Wisconsin was founded by Michael Brown, a 33-year-old single father and filmmaker from Appleton. [3] Michael Brown was an Independent candidate for Wisconsin's 57th Assembly District against an incumbent Democrat in 2010. Walker unveils the budget repair bill, which includes plans to strip collective bargaining rights for most state employees and cuts in state aid to education. [4]
On March 4, 2011, Michael Brown registered United Wisconsin as a political action committee in the state of Wisconsin and created a website where people can sign a pledge to recall Walker. On March 29, United Wisconsin picked six Board of Directors; Michael Brown, Lynn Freeman, Ryan Lawler, Kevin Straka, Ray Yunker and Kathryn Johnson.
On October 3, 2011, United Wisconsin Board of Directors talked for more than two hours before picking November 15 as the day to launch the recall petition drive against Walker. They cited the changing political climate, including the John Doe investigation and Gilkes' job change, as reasons for their decision.
On November 15, 2011, Julie Wells of Fort Atkinson filed on behalf of United Wisconsin to launch the recall petition drive against Walker. [5] [6]
On January 17, 2012, UW said that one million signatures were collected, which far exceeded the 540,208 needed, and amounts to 23 percent of the state's eligible voters, 46 percent of the total votes cast in the 2010 gubernatorial election, and just shy of the 1.1 million votes earned by Walker. On March 29, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board released its final signature counts for the Walker recall petition. The GAB reported that 931,053 signatures were originally turned in. Of that number, 26,114 were struck by GAB staff for various reasons and an additional 4,001 duplicates were struck. The final total certified by the GAB was 900,938 signatures. [7] [8] [9]
A recall election is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls appear in the constitution in ancient Athenian democracy. Even where they are legally available, recall elections are only commonly held in a small number of countries including Peru, Ecuador, and Japan. They are considered by groups such as ACE Electoral Knowledge Network as the most rarely used form of direct democracy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Elections in Wisconsin are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time.
The 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. The primary elections on September 14 determined which candidates advanced to the general election.
Randal B. Hopper is a former Republican member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 18th District from 2009 until losing his seat to Jessica King in a 2011 recall election. The 18th District includes the cities of Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Waupun.
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 12 states and two territories. Of the eight Democratic and four Republican seats contested, only that of North Carolina changed party hands, giving the Republicans a net gain of one governorship. These elections coincided with the presidential election on November 6, 2012. As of 2024, this marked the last time in which a Democrat won the governorship in Missouri and the last time in which a Republican won the governorship in North Carolina.
Rebecca Ann Kleefisch is an American politician and former television reporter who served as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected to the position on November 2, 2010, as the running mate of Governor Scott Walker; the pair narrowly lost reelection to a third term in 2018.
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.
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.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election of 2011 took place on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. The incumbent justice, David Prosser, Jr., was re-elected to another ten-year term, defeating assistant Wisconsin Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg. Unlike past elections for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the race gained significant nationwide publicity as it was widely seen as the first referendum on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's proposed anti-union legislation and the resulting protests.
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.
Recall elections for four Wisconsin state senators were held during the spring of 2012. Voters put four state senators up for recall, all Republicans, because of the budget repair bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker and circumstances surrounding it. Democrats targeted Republicans for voting to significantly limit public employee collective bargaining. Scholars could cite only four times in American history when more than one state legislator has been recalled at roughly the same time over the same issue. The recall elections occurred on June 5, with May 8 being the date of the primary election.
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics, and lobbying. The board was composed of six retired Wisconsin judges who served staggered, six-year terms. The board was created in 2007 as an attempt to reform and modernize Wisconsin's elections and ethics management. The board was dissolved in 2016 by the Republican legislature and replaced by two new commissions with explicitly partisan appointees, over the objections of Democratic legislators.
The 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to determine the governor and lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It occurred concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Michael Anthony Brown is an American television producer, documentary filmmaker, and progressive political activist. He is the director of Haunted State a documentary series on Amazon Amazon Prime Video and the documentary films Roller Life (2016), Haunted State: Whispers From History Past (2014) and Haunted State: Theatre of Shadows (2017).
The 2012 Wisconsin Fall General Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on November 6, 2012. One of Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seats and all of Wisconsin's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election, as well as sixteen seats in the Wisconsin State Senate and all 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Voters also chose ten electors to represent them in the Electoral College, which then participated in selecting the president of the United States. The 2012 Fall Partisan Primary was held on August 14, 2012. In the presidential election, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan was the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States.
The 2012 Wisconsin lieutenant gubernatorial recall election was a special election to elect the lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. It resulted in voters retaining incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch over the Democratic candidate Mahlon Mitchell. Kleefisch's retention made her the first lieutenant governor to run in and survive a recall. Primary elections took place on May 8, 2012.