Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker sued for
not calling special elections
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[February 27, 2018]
By Dan Whitcomb
(Reuters) - An pro-Democratic redistricting
group headed by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sued
Wisconsin's Republican governor, Scott Walker, on Monday for declining
to hold special elections for two vacant seats in the state legislature.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee alleged in the lawsuit
filed in Dane County Circuit Court that Walker was violating the law and
denying Wisconsin voters representation by leaving the elected offices
unfilled until 2019.
The seats, one in the state Assembly and the other in the state Senate,
became vacant in December when two Republican lawmakers resigned to
accept jobs in Walker's administration.
Democrats quickly called for special elections, hoping to pick up seats,
but Walker demurred. Last month, a Democrat won a special election for
another Wisconsin state Senate seat that Republicans had held for 17
years. Republicans control both state legislative chambers.
"Governor Scott Walker’s refusal to hold special elections is an affront
to representative democracy," Holder, who served as attorney general
under former Democratic President Barack Obama, said in a statement
issued with the lawsuit.
"Forcing citizens to go more than a year without representation in the
state legislature is a plain violation of their rights and we’re hopeful
the court will act quickly to order the governor to hold elections,"
Holder said.
Representatives for Walker, a Republican first elected in 2010 who has
been a leading antagonist of Democrats on labor law and other hot-button
issues, could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.
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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks during the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland,
U.S., February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
A spokeswoman for Walker, Amy Hasenberg, told the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel that his decision to wait to fill the seats was consistent
with the law, more practical and a way to save money.
"This D.C.-based special interest group wants to force Wisconsin
taxpayers to waste money," Hasenberg told the newspaper. "The
Legislature will be adjourned for 2018 before these seats could be
filled in special elections, and staff in these offices are working
for constituents until new leaders are elected."
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which bills itself
as an anti-gerrymandering group, seeks to position Democrats
favorably for the round of redistricting following the 2020 census,
according to the election information website Ballotpedia.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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