Wisconsin: GOP food fight in recall election against Democratic Senator

In a pair of stories, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tells one tale.

According to this story, we find that a GOP Assembly lawmaker wants to be placed on the Senate recall ballot. He had originally petitioned (as in, "collected petition signatures for") the Senate seat, but had fallen short of the number of ballots needed (my emphasis throughout):

A GOP Assembly lawmaker is suing to be placed on the ballot in a recall election against a Democratic senator.

In a filing in Dane County Circuit Court, Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) said the state Government Accountability Board wrongly took him off the ballot in the recall election for Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) in the 30th Senate District. ... The accountability board took Nygren off the ballot Monday after finding that he fell just short of collecting enough valid nominating signatures. The board found Nygren collected only 398 valid signatures, and 400 are needed.

The accountability board had initially found that Nygren had submitted 424 qualifying signatures from voters. But after a number of signatures were challenged by Democrats, the accountability board found that 26 of those were invalid.

That seems a low number to me, 400. I could get 400 signatures within a 12-block radius of my place, but I live downtown. Six percent invalid signatures out of a set that could be laid out on a decent-sized kitchen table seems like pretty sloppy sig-wrangling, but maybe they do things differently at his house.

So that's interesting, but ... why? Isn't there a Republican already in the race? Yep, there is:

Hansen is currently scheduled for a July 19 contest with GOP challenger David VanderLeest, who organized the recall against Hansen.

And that's where the Journal Sentinel comes through with a second story:

A GOP candidate from Green Bay running in a Senate recall race has been convicted of two misdemeanor counts, arrested on other occasions, and now faces another probe by the Oconto County Sheriff's Department.

The incidents involving David VanderLeest, which were brought forward by Democrats on Wednesday, stem from domestic violence allegations. VanderLeest, 34, helped organize the recall against Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and is the only Republican on the ballot challenging Hansen in the July 19 election.

And now we know. Sounds like your typical authoritarian assault situation, not too different from others I could mention. More on VanderLeest:

VanderLeest ... said the case stemmed from a restraining order sought by his ex-wife in April. ... VanderLeest, a Green Bay wind farm developer with a history of other legal troubles, was convicted of two misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges in 2007 as part of a plea deal in Brown County Circuit Court. Also Wednesday, Democrats pointed to at least two other times - in 2006 and 2009 - when VanderLeest was arrested on domestic abuse allegations involving his ex-wife but was not convicted.

His former wife also obtained restraining orders against him in 2005 and again in 2006. VanderLeest, who is not a lawyer, represented himself in the court cases.

As part of the 2007 plea deal, VanderLeest avoided a felony charge of intimidating a witness and misdemeanor battery and bail-jumping charges. VanderLeest entered an Alford plea, which means he maintained his innocence but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him.

Those "other legal troubles" are no walk in the park — they involve VanderLeest's real estate company skipping out on loans and unpaid fines for building code violations, along with the domestic assault charges. But VanderLeest has the perfect explanation:

"I represent the average person who's struggling," he said.

As do we all.

This leaves Green Bay matters in a bit of a mess. According to the AP, arguments in Nygren's suit will be heard Friday. If he fails, an election between Hansen and VanderLeest will be held July 19.

But if Nygren is successful, there will be a Republican primary on that date, with the inter-party final set for August 16. I can't find polling for the race, but you can help out Dave Hansen by contributing and helping get out the vote.

And in other Green Bay news, Lambeau Field officials would like to know if the state's new concealed-carry gun law applies to them — seriously.

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