The arrogance and thirst for power by some Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature continues unabated. Among other goals, they want to tell the state’s schools, libraries, and even sports organizations how to operate – not to mention how the state’s elections should be conducted.
An early November $109,300 media blitz (currently upped to $250,000) in the Milwaukee market was staged to pressure assembly speaker Robin Vos to allow a vote on impeaching Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) administrator Meagan Wolfe. Five members of the assembly, including Ty Bodden, who represents parts of Calumet, Fond du Lac, and Washington counties, asked Vos to do that.
Despite his extremist views on other matters, Vos did not take the bait on this one. A major message in the media blitz was the suggestion that its backers would support someone to oppose Vos in the next election.
Among the claims in the effort targeting Vos was that Wisconsin has more than 7 million names on its voter rolls (the state has about 3.5 million registered voters). Furthermore, the 2020 census credited the state with about 5.9 million residents. In addition, there were 15 charges of alleged misconduct by Wolfe in overseeing the November 2020 election.
Even more impressive than Vos’s stance against the threat was the reaction of WEC board chair Don Millis, a Republican. He explained that all of those 15 actions were approved by the WEC (3 Republicans and 3 Democrats). Kudos to Millis. Fortunately, some Republicans still have integrity.
In the end, the folks undertaking the media blitz exhibited no credibility. Those who promoted the claims should be embarrassed and those who put up the projected $250,000 should be furious at the waste of money.
(Update on the Vos saga: In March of 2024, the group trying to dispose of Vos again failed to get enough valid signatures to force a recall election. Millis, who is among a dwindling number of straight-shooting Republicans, remarked that it’s ironic to notice that those supposedly acting under the banner of “election integrity” committed fraud (false signatures) on the documents they presented in hoping to obtain a recall election targeting Vos.)