June 7, 2012

The Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, handily won a recall election on June 5. Walker took 51.6 percent of the vote, compared with his opponent Tom Barrett’s 46.3 percent. Walker is the first U.S. governor to survive a recall election. (Two other governors have been recalled.) Walker was elected governor in the 2010 congressional and state elections that were highly influenced by the Tea Party movement.

His recall victory dealt a painful blow to Democrats and labor unions. The recall was largely prompted by Walker’s move to cut collective bargaining rights for most public workers in the name of cost cutting. (Collective barganing is the negotiation about wages, hours, and other working conditions between workers organized as a group and their employer or employers.)

In 2011, the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison was the scene of massive demonstrations against legislation sponsored by Governor Scott Walker that stripped public employee unions of collective bargaining rights. (World Book illustration)

Political experts pointed out that many people in Wisconsin had opposed the recall on the grounds that Walker was not being accused of misconduct. They also noted that Walker greatly benefited from major contributions from wealthy conservative donors from around the country. He raised more than $30 million for the campaign, compared with Barrett’s $4 million. Because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, corporations and wealthy individuals can pump large amounts of money into elections.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the court decided that the U.S. government had no right to limit the amounts that unions and corporations can contribute to support or oppose candidates. This case led to the development of super PAC’s (political action committees) that in 2012 are accepting enormous donations. Many Americans believed that PAC’s have gained too much influence over American politics. They suggest that, in order to raise campaign funds, officeholders must sometimes give more attention to issues that concern PAC’s than to those that concern ordinary citizens.

Additional World Book articles:

• Labor and employment 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• State government 2011  (a Back in Time article)
• Supreme Court 2010 (a Back in time article)
• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)

Jan. 18, 2012

Opponents of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on January 17 delivered more than 1 million signatures to the state election board in Madison, the capital, to force a recall election to remove Walker from office. The stacks of petitions, which weighed more than 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms), included about twice as many signatures as needed.  The Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in Wisconsin, will review the petitions, which could take months.

Walker was elected in 2010 as part of the Tea Party movement that resulted in conservative Republicans gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives and several governors’ mansions. The petition drive began two months ago, largely in response to a law pushed by Governor Walker that ended nearly all collective bargaining rights for the state’s unionized public employees. (Collective bargaining is the negotiation about wages, hours, and other working conditions between workers organized as a group and their employer or employers.) The governor also cut spending for education and other programs while lowering taxes on businesses. Tens of thousands of people voiced their anger over the legislation by participating in massive protests at the state’s Capitol Building in March 2011.

There have only been two successful gubernatorial recalls in U.S. history: against North Dakota Governor Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California Governor Gray Davis in 2003.

Additional World Book articles:

• Industrial relations
• Labor movement
• North Dakota (History–The Early 1900′s)
• Back in Time 2003 (State government)
• Back in Time 2010 (State government)