Scott Williams
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Yard signs were part of two efforts to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. |
UNION GROVE — Organizers of recall campaigns targeting Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos spent $1.3 million — almost all of which came a single donor from Arkansas.
The Union Grove-based recall group, operating under the names “Recall Vos” and “Racine Recall Committee,” twice fell short of the number of signatures needed on petitions calling for a midterm election in Vos’ legislative district.
John Bailey, who according to Arkansas Business, a newspaper in Little Rock, is a real estate investor, made 10 donations totaling $1.1 million to the unsuccessful efforts, Wisconsin Ethics Commission finance reports show.
The reports, which were submitted a month past the filing deadline on Aug. 28, show Bailey donated $320,000 to the first recall effort and $785,000 to the second.
According to the reports, less than $1,500 came from Wisconsin donors. In addition to Bailey, donations were made by individuals in California, Arizona, Illinois and Massachusetts.
Vos, who was targeted by fellow Republicans after he refused calls to decertify President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 presidential election, said the reports confirmed his suspicion that the recall was driven largely by out-of-state interests rather than constituents in his district.
“This makes it clear this wasn’t a grassroots, volunteer, local effort,” he said. “It was an out-of-state paid endeavor engineered to pay those who took part in it.”
Recall organizer Matt Snorek defended accepting out-of-state donations, saying that Vos gets such support, too, for his own campaigns.
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