Ninety-eighth Wisconsin assembly district special election web sites

Here are the people running for the 98th assembly district seat with their web sites:

First the Democrat Eric Prudent:  Eric Prudent for District 98.

Then the Republicans:

Ed Baumann

Todd Greenwald For Wisconsin State Assembly

Matt Morzy for State Assembly

Adam Neylon

Taxpayers For Tarantino

Patch has done a short story focusing on Baumann and a look at the rest of the candidates and Blogging Blue has written supporting Prudent.

Here’s a map of the district (PDF file). I’m close to being in it but I’m just outside still in the 97th. And here’s where you can find out if you live in the district.

The primary is February 19 and the election coincides with the Spring Elections on April 2.

It’s a highly Republican district that the Republican nominee should win.

Related articles

• Gov. Walker calls special election to fill vacancy (fox6now.com)

In which I write the obligatory Year in Review

Was it my imagination, or did 2012 suck? Of course, for Democrats it sucked less than it did for Republicans because at least Obama got reelected. That was probably the big story.

Another story was (and continues to be) the shootings at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut. These kinds of things have the ability to shake one to the core. In Wisconsin, we also had the shooting at the Sikh temple and the one at the Azana Spa in Brookfield. On Christmas Eve, we were greeted with another shooting of the on-duty police officer, Jennifer Sebina, in Wauwatosa by her husband.

And of course, politics dominated here in Wisconsin and nationally with the recall elections and the presidential contest.

The conflicts in the Middle East continued to dominate the news. From the continuing conflict in Afghanistan to the uprisings in many countries in that area, people continued to die.

And then there’s the #fiscalcliff.

Many are glad to see 2012 in the rear view mirror.

Representative Sandy Pasch and Citizen Action of Wisconsin

UPDATE 2: Via Blogging Blue. The campaign treasurer for Sandy Pasch campaign is also treasurer for Citizen Action of Wisconsin.

UPDATE: GOP files complaint into Pasch-Citizen Action tie

Via a couple of tweets from Charlie Sykes:

Sandy Pasch is on brd of directors of group spending big $ backing her campaign. Coordination between candidate and indy groups illegal

And

Dem Sandy Pasch is listed as a member of the Board of Directors of Citizen Action: the group that organized this protest http://t.co/UdStJ9H

That Sandy Pasch is on the board can be seen here. All the way near the bottom of the page is:

Sandy Pasch
State Representative

Sandy Pasch is a concerned citizen, right? Great.

Well, except for Wisconsin statute 11.06 (7)(a):

Every committee, other than a personal campaign committee, which and every individual, other than a candidate who desires to make disbursements during any calendar year, which are to be used to advocate the election or defeat of any clearly identified candidate or candidates in any election shall before making any disbursement, except within the amount authorized under s. 11.05 (1) or(2), file with the registration statement under s. 11.05 a statement under oath affirming that the committee or individual does not act in cooperation or consultation with any candidate or agent or authorized committee of a candidate who is supported, that the committee or individual does not act in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any agent or authorized committee of a candidate who is supported, that the committee or individual does not act in cooperation or consultation with any candidate or agent or authorized committee of a candidate who benefits from a disbursement made in opposition to a candidate, and that the committee or individual does not act in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or agent or authorized committee of a candidate who benefits from a disbursement made in opposition to a candidate. A committee which or individual who acts independently of one or more candidates or agents or authorized committees of candidates and also in cooperation or upon consultation with, in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of one or more candidates or agents or authorized committees of candidates shall indicate in the oath the names of the candidate or candidates to which it applies.

A lot of legalese to say that an organization who makes an oath of independent disbursements is not acting in cooperation or consultation with the candidate or committees connected with the candidate.

See, Citizen Action of Wisconsin has made such an oath. For Sandy Pasch. And Sandy Pasch is on the board. And they stage demonstrations like this.

Independent? Hmmmm…

I’ll let the legal eagles take over from here, cuz I’m not a lawyer, or anything…

Recall elections begin.

Well, the next six weeks will be exciting. Or maybe not.

The first round of recall election process begin Tuesday. Here’s the schedule from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Tuesday [July 12] is election day for Democratic primaries in six Republican-held Senate districts.

July 19 is the general election in the district of Sen. Dave Hansen D-Green Bay, and Republican primary day in two other Democrat-held districts.

Aug. 9 is the general election in the Republican districts.

Aug. 16 is the general election in the two Democratic districts.

In this round, the fake Democrats (Everyone knows they’re fake now right? We don’t have to hide any longer? And we do know the Democrats have done something very similar in the past, don’t we?) will be in a primary with the real Democrats (just to keep it simple for everyone, especially me).

Oh, speak of keeping it simple here’s a nice little graphic (PDF file):

Now if it was my preference, the fake Democrats (far right column in above graphic) would win the primary and then the general election. But my preferences rarely come to pass.

Now one more thing, which everyone knows, is that there is going to be a boatload of money spent by both sides, a lot of coming from outside the state.

I actually think this is good because I believe people should be able to spend their money the way they want to. Democrats will spend just as much as Republicans even though they pretend to not want to do it. They just have to protect us from evil Republicans.

I used to agree with what the Editorial Board said about recall elections:

But that doesn’t mean these elections are a good idea. In fact, they are a very bad idea – an extreme overreaction born from a long season of overreaction.

[snip]

Recalls should be used to punish gross malfeasance or corruption – something that cannot wait for the normal election cycle – not to overturn the results of an election or to dispute policy differences.

But this money helps the economy maybe even creating some jobs, which is good for the state. Maybe other states will put recall elections in place in other states to boost their employment rates. #sarcasm

Because Wisconsin’s job market, though not as robust as we would like, and slipping a bit last month (PDF file), is still the envy of many states and certainly the federal government.

Republicans in Legislature may try to make recalls harder

Republican leaders in the Legislature said Monday they would consider introducing legislation this fall to make it harder to recall state officials.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) said the upcoming recall elections had launched the state Senate into “full campaign mode” and was slowing down the legislative process.

via Republicans in Legislature may try to make recalls harder – JSOnline.

Of course the more cynical think the GOP are trying to protect themselves with this bill. I doubt the bill would take effect soon.

But this is not new with me. I complained about the ease of recalls long ago, but I can’t find the link 😦 .But it might be too hard to correct. One man’s malfeasance is another’s governing style. But it shouldn’t be recallable unless there’s criminal misconduct. Like Anthony Weiner, David Vitter or similar.

Not just because we disagree with their policy.

This is the price of apathy?

I usually don’t take on Community Columnists at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I was one once. But the one in Thursday’s paper is useful for a point, because it reflects what I see in liberal thought toward conservatives.

The 2010 election saw a full 50% of the electorate sit on their hands and do nothing. Among those who did vote, one has to wonder just how much effort was put into understanding the issues, the proposed solutions and the historical performance of the candidates.

via This is the price of apathy – JSOnline.

I’ve written about apathy before, even as a member of the Community Columnists. However, Mr. Bell is not really writing about apathy.

The Republicans got elected promising jobs and have pulled a fast one on all of us. Behind the foible of “budget,” they used the issue to drive home every bit of longed for right-wing goodies – and now, some who voted for them feel duped.

Yes, this is another screed about those no good Republicans.

What was that whole brown bag lunch that the liberals liked to ridicule so much, all about anyway?

That’s right. The budget.

How soon they forget.

But that seems to be the liberal tactic, that somehow the Republicans pulled a bait and switch on the people of Wisconsin.

“Jobs was what the Republicans promised.”

Well, yeah and the brown bag lunch. Living within your means.

Hmmm, I wonder if Mr. Bell was truly “duped?” Because the article sure didn’t give the feel of one who had been duped.

So who’s doing the duping?

As usual, what it comes down to is that the GOP lied and stupid people voted for them.

Same ol’ same ol’.