# 2012 Wisconsin Senate recall elections

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vte :
The 2012 Wisconsin Senate recall elections were a set of recall elections for four Wisconsin state senators held on June 5, 2012. Four of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—all odd-numbered districts. Before the election, four of these seats were held by Republicans. The primary election was held on May 8, 2012.
These recall elections followed the largest group of recall elections in U.S. history during the previous year, in which Republicans kept control of the Wisconsin Senate. Democrats flipped one Republican-held seat, regaining control of the chamber for the first time since 2008.
After the elections, Democrats entered the remainder of the 100th Wisconsin Legislature with 17 of 33 seats.

## Background

Voters put four state senators up for recall, all Republicans, because of the budget repair bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker and circumstances surrounding it. Democrats targeted Republicans for voting to significantly limit public employee collective bargaining. Scholars could cite only four times in American history when more than one state legislator has been recalled at roughly the same time over the same issue. The recall elections occurred on June 5, with May 8 being the date of the primary election.
These recall elections followed the largest group of recall elections in U.S. history during the previous year, in which Republicans kept control of the Wisconsin Senate. In the June 5, 2012 recall elections, Democrats appeared to have taken over one seat from Republicans.

## Results summary

| Seats | Seats | Party(majority caucus shading) | Party(majority caucus shading) | Total |
| Seats | Seats | Democratic | Republican | Total |
| Last election (2010) | Last election (2010) | 6 | 11 | 17 |
| Total after last election (2010) | Total after last election (2010) | 14 | 19 | 33 |
| Total before this election | Total before this election | 16 | 17 | 33 |
| Up for election | Up for election | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| of which: | Incumbent retiring | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| of which: | Vacated | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| of which: | Unopposed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| This election | This election | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Change from last election | Change from last election | 5 | 8 | |
| Total after this election | Total after this election | 17 | 16 | 33 |
| Change in total | Change in total | 3 | 3 | |

### Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:
* State Senate district 21, 1.14% (gain)

## Outgoing incumbents
### Vacated office

* Pam Galloway, representing district 29 since 2010, resigned on March 12, 2012 to take care of her family

## Campaign
### Recall petitions

| Dist. | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | Recall petition | Recall petition | Recall petition |
| Dist. | Member | Party | First elected | Signatures required | Signatures approved (%) | Status |
| 13 | Scott L. Fitzgerald | Rep. | 1994 | 16,742 | 18,282 (109%) | Recall held on June 5. |
| 17 | Dale Schultz | Rep. | 1991 (special) | 14,545 | TBD | Recall not held. |
| 21 | Van H. Wanggaard | Rep. | 2010 | 15,353 | 19,142 (125%) | Recall held on June 5. |
| 23 | Terry Moulton | Rep. | 2010 | 14,958 | 18,657 (125%) | Recall held on June 5. |
| 25 | Robert Jauch | Dem. | 1986 | 15,270 | TBD | Recall not held. |
| 29 | Pam Galloway | Rep. | 2010 | 15,647 | 18,511 (118%) | Recall held on June 5. |

#### District 17

On March 19, 2012, paperwork was filed with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board to create a committe to explore recalling Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center). To initiate a recall against Schultz, organizers would have had to submit 14,545 signatures to the G.A.B.. The effort was launched due to Schultz opposing a bill the week prior that would have helped Gogebic Taconite, a Florida-based mining company, set up an iron mine in northwestern Wisconsin.

#### District 25

On March 19, 2012, paperwork was filed with the G.A.B. to authorize a recall petition against Robert Jauch (D-Poplar). To initiate a recall against Jauch, organizers would have had to submit at least 15,270 signatures to the G.A.B.. The effort was launched due to Jauch opposing a bill from the previous week that would have helped Gogebic Taconite set up an iron mine in northwestern Wisconsin. Proponents of the recall argued that Jauch had cost Ashland County and Iron County jobs that would have alleviated unemployment. The recall effort was ultimately suspended on May 11, with organizers redirecting their attention to supporting Scott Walker in the gubernatorial recall election.

### 'Placeholder' candidates

Similarly to the previous recalls in 2011, the Republican Party backed primary challengers – known as "fake Democrats" due to being Republicans who ran in Democratic primaries – to all Democratic candidates running against Republican incumbents. The stated purpose of this was to prevent the recall elections from being held on the same day as the Democratic primary in the gubernatorial recall election and to give Republican incumbents and candidates more time to campaign.

### Polling

| Dist. | Date of poll | Candidate | Result in most recent poll | Poll information |
| 13 | April 13–15 | Scott Fitzgerald (R-inc.) | 54% | Conducted by PPP |
| 13 | April 13–15 | Lori Compas (D) | 40% | Conducted by PPP |
| 21 | April 13–15 | Van Wanggaard (R-inc.) | 48% | Conducted by PPP |
| 21 | April 13–15 | John Lehman (D) | 46% | Conducted by PPP |
| 23 | April 13–15 | Terry Moulton (R-inc.) | 51% | Conducted by PPP |
| 23 | April 13–15 | Kristen Dexter (D) | 41% | Conducted by PPP |
| 29 | April 13–15 | Jerry Petrowski (R) | 51% | Conducted by PPP |
| 29 | April 13–15 | Donna Seidel | 37% | Conducted by PPP |

### Aftermath

Although the victory gave Democrats control of the Senate, the state legislature would not be in regular session again until after the November 2012 election when control of the legislature would again be contested. After the November 2012 election, Republicans regained control of the state Senate due to the resignation of one Democrat and two losses by Democrats to Republicans.

## Race summary

| Dist. | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | This race | This race |
| Dist. | Member | Party | First elected | Status | Candidates |
| 13 | Scott L. Fitzgerald | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent retained | ▌Y Scott Fitzgerald (Rep.) 58.31% ▌Lori Compas (Dem.) 40.70% ▌Terry Virgil (Lib.) 0.94% |
| 21 | Van H. Wanggaard | Republican | 2010 | Incumbent recalled. New member elected. Democratic gain. | ▌Y John Lehman (Dem.) 50.53% ▌Van Wanggaard (Rep.) 49.39% |
| 23 | Terry Moulton | Republican | 2010 | Incumbent retained | ▌Y Terry Moulton (Rep.) 56.57% ▌Kristen Dexter (Dem.) 43.29% |
| 29 | --Vacant-- | --Vacant-- | --Vacant-- | Previous incumbent resigned Mar. 16, 2012. New member elected. Republican hold. | ▌Y Jerry Petrowski (Rep.) 61.34% ▌Donna J. Seidel (Dem.) 38.58% |

## Detailed results
### District 13

Incumbent Republican Scott Fitzgerald ran for re-election. He defeated Democrat Lori Compas and Libertarian Terry Virgil in the recall election and was retained in office.
District 13 Democratic recall primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Lori Compas | 21,257 | 71.47 |
| | Democratic | Gary Ellerman | 8,213 | 27.47 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 273 | 0.92 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 29,743 | 100.0 |
District 13 recall election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Scott Fitzgerald | 47,146 | 58.31 |
| | Democratic | Lori Compas | 32,909 | 40.70 |
| | Libertarian | Terry Virgil | 763 | 0.94 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 33 | 0.04 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 80,851 | 100.0 |

### District 21

Incumbent Republican Van H. Wanggaard ran for re-election. He was defeated by Democrat John Lehman and recalled from office.
The initial results for the race were too close to call, with Lehman appearing to lead Wanggaard by less than 800 votes. The subsequent election canvas the following week confirmed Lehman's lead. Despite this, Wanggaard requested a recount, citing potential election irregularities involving potentially thousands of voters. The recount, held from June 20–July 2, decreased Lehman's margin by 15 votes. Due to the close results, several Republicans, including future Speaker of the Assembly Robin Vos, made false claims of voter fraud to explain Lehman's victory over Wanggaard. In the end, Wanggaard conceded to Lehman on July 10, 2012.
District 21 Democratic recall primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | John Lehman | 20,284 | 67.79 |
| | Democratic | Tamra Varebrook | 9,513 | 31.80 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 122 | 0.41 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 29,919 | 100.0 |
District 21 recall election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | John Lehman | 36,358 | 50.53 |
| | Republican | Van H. Wanggaard (incumbent) | 35,539 | 49.39 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 58 | 0.08 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 71,955 | 100.0 |

### District 23

Republican Terry Moulton ran for re-election. He defeated Democrat Kristen Dexter in the recall election and was retained in office.
District 23 Democratic recall primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Kristen Dexter | 17,651 | 63.77 |
| | Democratic | James Engel | 9,736 | 35.17 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 292 | 1.05 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 27,679 | 100.0 |
District 23 recall election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Terry Moulton (incumbent) | 39,864 | 56.57 |
| | Democratic | Kristen Dexter | 30,504 | 43.29 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 100 | 0.14 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 71,909 | 100.0 |

### District 29

Incumbent Republican Pam Galloway resigned on March 12 due to personal reasons, leaving the district open. Republican Jerry Petrowski defeated Democrat Kristen Dexter and retained the seat for Republicans.
District 29 Democratic recall primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Donna J. Seidel | 17,930 | 63.48 |
| | Democratic | Jim Buckley | 10,099 | 35.75 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 217 | 0.77 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 28,246 | 100.0 |
District 29 general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jerry Petrowski | 44,107 | 61.34 |
| | Democratic | Donna J. Seidel | 27,744 | 38.58 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 58 | 0.08 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 71,909 | 100.0 |