As Wisconsin voters prepare to head to the polls for landmark Senate recall elections, union volunteers are leaving no stone unturned and no door “un-knocked” in their efforts to win support for their candidates.
Over the past several weeks more than 100 AFSCME volunteers from other states have joined an army of nearly 12,000 Wisconsinites in a historic grassroots campaign aimed ultimately
at stopping right-wing Governor Scott Walker’s anti-union agenda. The volunteers include Council 93’s Greg Callahan, Carol Markland, and Rudy Renaud.
Their efforts include door-to-door education campaigns, voter-turnout drives, and phone banks. With every vote critical, AFSCME volunteers have been dispatched to the state’s remote farmlands, where sometimes several miles separate one household from the next. “We’re out in very rural areas,” Renaud stated in an email update. “This campaign is taking us to doors that never really get knocked on.”
The recall elections are targeting six Republican state senators who rubber-stamped Governor Scott Walker's union-busting legislation. In addition to the six Republicans, three Democratic Senators have been targeted by Walker supporters, one of whom defeated his challenger last month by a healthy 66-33 percent margin.
In that election, Senator David Hansen defeated a challenge by Republican David VanderLeest While VanderLeest was considered to be a relatively week candidate who has been plagued by a string of legal and financial troubles, Democratic supporters are strongly encouraged by the win as polling indicated the election was held in a “right-leaning” district.
Assuming the other two Democratic seats are retained, a defeat of three of the six Republicans will be enough for Democrats to gain control of the senate and start turning the tide against Walker.
The eyes of the entire nation have been on Wisconsin since Walker moved to bust public employee unions at the start of the year. But instead of having the affect he was hoping for, Walker's moves have reenergized the labor movement and increased public support for collective bargaining rights.
The final recall elections will be held on Tuesday, August 9. For up-to-the-minute coverage of the recall fights and union efforts check in regularly with We Are Wisconsin.