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Ellipsis

(9,112 posts)
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 02:12 PM Mar 2018

Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats in E.Holder Suit

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Dealing a setback to Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans, a judge ruled Thursday the governor must call special elections to fill two vacant seats in the Legislature.

Walker declined to call those elections after two GOP lawmakers stepped down to join his administration in December. His plan would have left the seats vacant for more than a year.

Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds ruled Walker had a duty under state law to hold special elections so voters could have representation. She said failing to hold special elections infringed on the voting rights of people who lived in the two districts.

"To state the obvious, if the plaintiffs have a right to vote for their representatives, they must have an election to do so," said Reynolds, who was appointed to the bench in 2014 by Walker.



Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/22/eric-holder-lawsuit-against-gov-scott-walker-over-wisconsin-special-elections-hits-snag/448743002/

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Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats in E.Holder Suit (Original Post) Ellipsis Mar 2018 OP
Let the blue wave commence Blue Owl Mar 2018 #1
Good decision! Government is for the people, not for the republican party. - n/t Jim__ Mar 2018 #2
When I first heard of walker declining to hold elections, I thought of McConnell not holding a riversedge Mar 2018 #5
Both are two peas in the same rotten pod. Raster Mar 2018 #9
This won't matter because Walker will just appeal to the (very conservative) Wisconsin Supreme Court Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #3
It was his own appointed judge nixing it... with sarcasm I might add. Ellipsis Mar 2018 #4
LOL Vos just called Judge Reynolds an Activit judge. OMG!! riversedge Mar 2018 #7
Well, I guess it's official: "Activist Judge" anyone who disagrees with me flibbitygiblets Mar 2018 #12
Shaddap popcorn-man! Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #18
Yeah, I noticed and appreciated that. Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #8
if 10's of thousands of democratic voters vote who did not or were not allowed in 2016, vote in 2018 beachbum bob Mar 2018 #10
I know this is the game they play - to appeal - but really, on what grounds can he appeal? Equinox Moon Mar 2018 #17
Honestly I think they're just going to drag this out until a special election, were it to even be Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #19
The judge took a shot at Walker for contending he didn't have to hold the election when the statutes riversedge Mar 2018 #6
He needs more time to figure out the best method to cheat the voting system. C Moon Mar 2018 #11
Haha Miigwech Mar 2018 #13
Actually, they are smarter, Vos strangedaysindeed Mar 2018 #14
I lived in Madison for long time and so miss it now. riversedge Mar 2018 #15
I spent eight wonderful years in Mad City. Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #20
It has been so tragic to witness Wisconsin fall to the RW radicals. May the blue wave begin!! Equinox Moon Mar 2018 #16
I'd leave but I'm too old and too stubborn. Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #21

riversedge

(69,538 posts)
5. When I first heard of walker declining to hold elections, I thought of McConnell not holding a
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 02:50 PM
Mar 2018

hearing for the SC nominee.

 

Still In Wisconsin

(4,450 posts)
3. This won't matter because Walker will just appeal to the (very conservative) Wisconsin Supreme Court
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 02:46 PM
Mar 2018

By the time any actual election is held, we will be so close to November that it will be of little/no consequence. Still, this is good because it slaps Walker, who is used to getting whatever he wants with zero resistance. This also calls attention to the fact that the Republicans are running scared, even in deep red states like Wisconsin.

riversedge

(69,538 posts)
7. LOL Vos just called Judge Reynolds an Activit judge. OMG!!
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 02:56 PM
Mar 2018

Jessie Opoien
?Verified account @jessieopie

Jessie Opoien Retweeted Patrick Marley

.@SpeakerVos says people sometimes get appointments wrong, calls Reynolds an activist judge (re: special elections decision). "Something about the water in Dane County makes people feel they are smarter than the rest of the state. They certainly are not."


flibbitygiblets

(7,220 posts)
12. Well, I guess it's official: "Activist Judge" anyone who disagrees with me
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 04:38 PM
Mar 2018

even people I personally appointed. Deep State!!!

 

Still In Wisconsin

(4,450 posts)
8. Yeah, I noticed and appreciated that.
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 03:01 PM
Mar 2018

May we one day rid ourselves of this one-party rule that we've endured since 2010. I believe the next statewide election will go one of two ways: either Walker will be swept out of office in an anti-Trump blue wave, taking some/many state Senators and Representatives with him, or we will lose Tammy Baldwin as the Repub base acts to save their golden boy, Scott K. Walker, in the process leading to better than expected results in other races. Up until the last special elections in AL and PA I would have said that predicting a Walker loss was a fool's bet, given the almost comical ineptitude of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, but now I'm wondering if the blue wave will be too strong for even them to screw up.

 

beachbum bob

(10,437 posts)
10. if 10's of thousands of democratic voters vote who did not or were not allowed in 2016, vote in 2018
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 03:13 PM
Mar 2018

walker is screwed, gop is screwed in wisconsin.

Equinox Moon

(6,344 posts)
17. I know this is the game they play - to appeal - but really, on what grounds can he appeal?
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 08:57 PM
Mar 2018

The ruling is just, follows the state constitution and is just plan the right thing to do.

It gets so tiring fighting evil.

 

Still In Wisconsin

(4,450 posts)
19. Honestly I think they're just going to drag this out until a special election, were it to even be
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:52 PM
Mar 2018

authorized, would be too late to allow the seating of the winner before the next election in November.

riversedge

(69,538 posts)
6. The judge took a shot at Walker for contending he didn't have to hold the election when the statutes
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 02:53 PM
Mar 2018


................Walker aides contended Walker didn't need to hold special elections because the vacancies occurred not in 2018 — the election year — but in 2017.

But the judge called that interpretation absurd because a seat that becomes vacant in 2017 remains empty longer than one that begins in 2018.

The judge took a shot at Walker for contending he didn't have to hold the election when the statutes are clear and he so often talks about the need for judges and others to follow the plain meaning of laws.

"The two views are inconsistent, incompatible and irreconcilable," she said of Walker's reading of the law on special elections and his support for strictly reading laws.


 

strangedaysindeed

(226 posts)
14. Actually, they are smarter, Vos
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 05:30 PM
Mar 2018

a lot of the people in Dane County moved there to get away from the intellectually challenged areas like Racine Co.

I have lived in both, so I know first hand.

(that includes Wauwatosa too.)

riversedge

(69,538 posts)
15. I lived in Madison for long time and so miss it now.
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 07:02 PM
Mar 2018

Had to move to care for my mom or I would still be there.

 

Still In Wisconsin

(4,450 posts)
20. I spent eight wonderful years in Mad City.
Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:54 PM
Mar 2018

Left for work... now I'm in the economically depressed Western Hinterlands trying to convince people that Trump is NOT their boy.

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