A Rant on Recalls

Disclaimer: I do not have the time or the effort to look up the actual numbers, but hopefully I get my point across even if the numbers are not exact.

So it was an Election Day yesterday (really, it was) and being the teacher of government that I am...or was...I had to go vote. I was also able to drag Melissa along with me since there were two elections for the MPS School Board.

One of the more newsworthy elections yesterday was the primary election for the Milwaukee Common Council. This was the election for the recall of Michael McGee, Jr. The same recall that turned into a debacle between the Milwaukee Elections Commission and the Wisconsin Elections Board. It was on, then it was off, then it was on again.

In the end, it turned out that the recall organizers ended up with around 2,000 signatures to recall the Alderman (exact number unknown...I am lazy). In the election last night, there were nowhere near 2,000 votes against the Alderman. If you added up all the votes for the challengers, it was something like 1,000 votes.

Something similar happened in Muskego recently as well. The mayor was recalled, and the recall petitioners ended up with more signatures than people who actually voted in the election to elect the Mayor. Where were these "fed up" people when he was elected?

I do not get it. People sign a petition to recall someone, but then either vote for him or do not vote at all. I guess these people deserve what they are going to get. I hope they remember that this summer when inevitably Alderman McGee's district will get ugly and he will randomly disappear with no comment on what is going in. He will instead be organizing cruising parties in areas outside of his district.