Petition to recall Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Republican Robin Vos heads to Madison
Updated at 1:50 p.m. on March 11, 2024:
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Assembly Speaker Robin Vos released a public statement on Sunday, March 10 regarding the petition to recall him. He argued that there are factors that may delegitimize the recall effort.
Vos stated, "Given that almost every person in Racine County – not just those living in the 63rd district - has been accosted by out-of-state recall circulators over the past two months, it calls into question the validity of these signatures."
He added, "Numerous reports in recent weeks of illegal alien circulators, bullying students in school yards, illegally paying people to sign, and collecting signatures outside of district lines will make it necessary to evaluate each individual signature. We have assembled a team to do that."
Vos also noted his wishes that Racine County Republicans would focus more on the 2024 Presidential election rather than trying to challenge his conservative record.
Published at 7:38 p.m. on March 10, 2024:
UNION GROVE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- At Union Grove in Racine County, organizers are collecting signatures to recall Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos before their Monday deadline. Organizers need roughly 7,000 signatures to move forward with the recall election. The lead petitioner says he's collected more than 10,000.
Wisconsinites may soon cast their votes in more than just the 2024 election.
"We can’t keep voting for him because he’s the best conservative option," said Matthew Snorek, the lead petitioner behind calls to recall Vos.
The efforts to recall Vos comes after his refusal to decertify President Biden's win in the 2020 election. Biden narrowly won the state of Wisconsin. Political expert and Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Mordecai Lee says this is a sign of division amongst the Republican Party.
"That they’re so unhappy with the fact that he’s not an election denier, that he did not use his powers as speaker to continue challenging the election results that this is what they want," said Lee. “Would the election deniers bolt because Vos wins the recall or will the non-Trump supporters bolt because they just can’t stand what is happening in terms of the election deniers?"
Snorek says while Vos is up for re-election in November, he believes Republicans have to take action now.
“If he doesn’t want anything to do with that, then what choice do we have? He’s not really working with his constituents then," said Snorek.
Lee says recall elections go against the principle of representation.
"It’s almost like grievance politics to the sense of we don’t like you and we don’t care you’re up for reelection in November. We want to recall you now," said Lee.
Snorek says some people who voted for Vos in 2022 don’t feel presented by him.
"They’re signing those petitions because they’ve had their own reasons or instances with Robin Vos where they feel like they've been ignored, neglected, not represented very well," said Snorek.
Once the signatures are verified, Lee says a recall election could happen mid-summer.
"If there are enough signatures that survive a challenge, the clock starts ticking and that primary will occur 60 days later.”
If the recall election moves forward, it is an open primary, meaning anyone can challenge Vos.
CBS 58 reached out to speaker Vos and the state Republican party but did not receive a response.