Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects bid to revive Robin Vos recall election

From JSOnline:

Jessie Opoien

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an effort by opponents of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to expedite a case that would revive their effort to launch a recall election against the Rochester Republican.

The court did not offer any commentary in its decision to deny the recall proponents' request to bypass an appeals court.

Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke ruled last month that signatures collected in the recall effort were obtained under legislative district maps that are now invalid and cannot be used in upcoming elections. His ruling followed a decision by the Wisconsin Elections Commission in June declaring the petitions to have too few valid signatures because a portion were collected beyond the time period allowed under state law.

It was the Racine County-based group's second failed effort.

Vos, who has been speaker for 10 years and represented the southeastern Wisconsin 63rd Assembly District since 2005, is the most effective Republican in the GOP-controlled state Legislature but has faced fierce criticism from members of his own party in recent years over his rejection of calls to decertify the 2020 election, which has been impossible as long as supporters of Trump have called for the idea.

The court's decision means the petitioners, Racine Recall and Matthew Snorek, must take the case to an appeals court if they wish to proceed.

Members of the bipartisan state Elections Commission rejected the group’s first recall effort against Vos in April after commission staff determined the group didn’t gather enough signatures in the correct legislative districts and found petition circulators illegally forged signatures.

The recall efforts are led by a Racine County-area group that has sought to oust Vos over his previous criticism of Republican former President Donald Trump and his refusal to take up legislative efforts to impeach WEC administrator Meagan Wolfe. The group has espoused conspiracy theories and false claims about the 2020 election in Wisconsin.

Trump won Wisconsin by about 23,000 votes in 2016, then lost by about 21,000 votes to Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020.

Vos endorsed Trump in March, after previously saying his nomination as the GOP presidential candidate would be a "suicide mission" for Republicans.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2024/08/27/wisconsin-supreme-court-rejects-bid-to-revive-vos-recall-election/74969648007/