The perfect job just opened up for those of you who might be interested. It’s a salaried position, comes with full benefits, and requires absolutely no work for the rest of the year. It’s being the State Senator in District 1.
A Dane County Judge ruled on Thursday that Governor Scott Walker is violating the Constitution by not holding a special election to replace former Senator Frank Lasee–who resigned at the end of last year. A group led by former US Attorney General Eric Holder filed that lawsuit–finding a couple of people living in that district who claimed to be “disenfranchised” by not having the seat filled. So that means if there is no appeal, taxpayers in Door, Brown, Kewaunee and Calumet counties will have to pay for a special election for a seat that comes up for election again in November.
And the winner of that special election will be asked to attend ZERO sessions of the State Senate for the rest of this term–as the Legislature has adjourned for the year so incumbents can spend the summer and fall campaigning for re-election. But, just because you aren’t meeting doesn’t mean you don’t continue to get your taxpayer-funded paycheck and insurance coverages. Maybe there will be a couple of committee meetings at the Capitol you can attend–just so you can collect a per diem too.
Since you can’t just hold an election tomorrow, there will have to be a collection and filing period for nomination petition signatures. And if there is more than one candidate per party that files their papers, there will have to be a primary–followed by another campaign period before a general election. That means the earliest this seat could be filled is early June. That would be followed by the certification process for the election–and then the Senate President would have to schedule a swearing-in ceremony. I would recommend that whomever wins that special election just keep their campaign signs in everyone’s yards–because the primary for the fall election is in August–and they could be out collecting signatures for that race just a couple of days after first being elected.
The idiocy may not stop there. State Representative Andre Jacque was already planning to run for Lasee’s seat in the fall–so it would be easy for him to mount a special election campaign. And if he were to win, that means another vacant seat in the Assembly–and since the legal precedent has been set–Governor Walker would have to call another special election to fill a seat that also goes up for election in November–creating even more taxpayer expense.
Now we know why Holder’s group filed this lawsuit–and it has nothing to do with “disenfranchisement”. There has been plenty of media coverage of special elections this year–with Democrats flipping a few seats in Congress and state houses (including a Senate seat in Western Wisconsin). Forcing a couple more special elections here keeps that narrative going and allows everyone on the Left to keep the dream of a “Blue Wave” in November alive. And the power of incumbency in any election is great–so even to have a “figurehead” win the special election gives them an advantage in the real election in November.
Oh, and don’t worry about not actually living in the 1st District before running for that meaningless position. Frank Lasee didn’t live in De Pere for years–and Oshkosh is much closer to that district than Kenosha.
