Wisconsin Supreme Court leaves questions about Robin Vos recall attempt and vacant Senate seat

MADISON – The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday declined to take action on Gov. Tony Evers' request to clarify whether the state's new legislative districts apply to elections held before November, leaving potential questions about how election officials will address a vacant Milwaukee state Senate seat or a proposed recall of the Assembly speaker.

The court's order comes days before organizers of a recall attempt against Speaker Robin Vos plan to submit thousands of signatures to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, an effort one organizer said has focused on areas in southeast Wisconsin found in both Vos' previous district and new one.

In February, an attorney for Evers sent a letter to the court asking it to retain jurisdiction over the lawsuit that ultimately resulted in the court declaring the Legislature's previous boundaries unconstitutional, making way for the new electoral maps signed into law by the Democratic governor.

"While the districts in (the bill) will apply for the 2024 primary and general elections, it is unsettled what maps will apply to special or recall elections prior to the November 2024 General Election," Assistant Attorney General Anthony Russomanno, who represents Evers, wrote in the Feb. 19 letter. "Because there will be at least one special election to fill Senate District 4, there is still at least one issue for the Court to resolve regarding what maps will apply to that election."

But Republican legislative leaders pushed back on the idea there is uncertainty, and said in a response to Evers' letter that the court should dismiss the case.

"... the Legislature presumes that the (Wisconsin Elections Commission) will conduct any future special election using the maps enacted by (the new law signed by Evers). And when this action is dismissed, those maps will presumably be used for all future elections," wrote Attorney Kevin St. John, who represents Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Senate President Chris Kapenga.

"The Legislature and the Governor have given Wisconsin voters the certainty that they deserve. The Court should end this redistricting litigation and allow candidates and voters to move ahead to forthcoming elections."

The justices on Friday issued an order saying the court will not take any action on the letters, "which are not motions." A spokeswoman for Evers did not immediately say whether the governor will seek the same clarification through a motion to the court.

Matt Snorek, an organizer of the recall effort against Vos, said Friday he and other organizers plan to hold a press conference Monday morning at the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison before heading to the elections commission offices to submit the signatures they have collected.

Snorek would not say how many signatures the group has gathered thus far but said he is not concerned about not having enough. To trigger a recall election, Snorek must gather 25% of the total number of votes for governor in 2022 in Vos' old district, or nearly 7,000 signatures. It's unclear how many signatures would be required in Vos' new district.

"We're doing a big push this weekend. We know we're fine right now, but we want to really just kind of throw a whole bunch on top to make sure no matter what, this one will stand (against) any challenges," he said.

Snorek said he has focused on gathering signatures in the areas of Burlington, Union Grove and Kansasville but said other organizers may have pursued signatures from other areas.

"Folks that actually have the right to vote for Robin Vos should have the right to, basically, I call it an unvote," Snorek said.

He said there's "a number of different entities and groups that are supporting and participating in the recall for their own reasons" and could not say where those groups were taking their petitions, however.

Vos did not immediately return a phone call from the Journal Sentinel.

Snorek, of Burlington, launched the recall effort in January over Vos' criticism of former President Donald Trump and his unwillingness to impeach the state's top election official over the 2020 election.

Vos, who has been speaker for 10 years and represented the 63rd Assembly District since 2005, is the most effective Republican in the GOP-controlled state Legislature but has faced fierce criticism from members of his own party in recent years over his rejection of calls to decertify the 2020 election, which has been impossible as long as supporters of Trump have called for the idea.

The move to try to recall Vos came after a Racine County-based group focused on 2020 election conspiracies ran television ads threatening to unseat Vos if he did not advance articles of impeachment against Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe — an effort Vos has blocked.

Vos in a statement at the time called the effort "a waste of time, resources and effort."

"The effort today is no surprise since the people involved cannot seem to get over any election in which their preferred candidate doesn’t win," Vos said.

The special election for Senate District 4 in Milwaukee was trigged by Evers' appointment of then-Sen. Lena Taylor to a Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench vacancy. So far two Democratic members of the state Assembly — Dora Drake and LaKeshia Myers — have announced plans to run for the seat.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Court leaves questions about Vos recall attempt and vacant Senate seat