The Wisconsin Recall is Real: Petitions Certified, Elections Set for June 5

John Nichols on March 31, 2012 - 12:57 AM ET
The Nation

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will be the first chief executive of an American state to face a recall election because he attacked the rights of working people to have a voice in their workplaces and in the public life of the land.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on Friday morning certified more than 900,000 signatures on recall petitions to remove the anti-labor governor -- far in excess of the required 540,000. They also certified more than 800,000 signatures to remove his lieutenant governor. And four of Walker's key legislative allies, including the powerful majority leader of the state Senate, will also be forced to face the voters.

The accomplishment of the grassroots campaign to recall and remove Walker and his allies is dramatic. And the confirmation of that accomplishment marked "a historic day in democracy for the state of Wisconsin,” according to Wisconsin AFL-CIO president Phil Neuenfeldt.

The accomplishment is, as well, unprecedented.

(More here.)