Evers Recall Effort Fails
Organizer says recall fell short of 668,000 signatures required.
Governor Tony Evers recall effort Facebook graphic. Image from Recall Evers Petition
An effort to recall Governor Tony Evers failed to come up with the necessary signatures, approximately 668,000, to initiate a recall election.
“It is with a heavy heart we announce that after proofing and what came in over the weekend we have fallen short. We do not have enough signatures to turn in,” wrote organizer Misty Polewczynski.
Last week Polewczynski claimed her group had enough signatures, but also publicly discussed her intentions to mislead the media.
But Monday morning, one day before a 60-day filing deadline, she posted in the “Recall Evers Petition” Facebook group that the group didn’t have the necessary signatures. The group has 80,800 members.
“You have all been amazing and I will never forget it! We will be finalizing campaign finance statements and all of the donations we did not need will be returned over the next week, we cannot and would not keep those. No signatures will be turned in, leaving the ability for a recall to be filed again. And keeping the information from becoming public record. All remaining petitions will still be collected and destroyed to keep them from falling in the wrong hands,” wrote Polewczynski.
She endorsed both Donald Trump and Jonathan Wichmann, a 2022 Republican candidate for governor, in her announcement. Polewczynski previously said her reason for the recall was Evers’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest in Kenosha.
The effort was not formally backed by the state Republican Party, but it did result in Evers releasing an advertisement last week attacking Republicans for their inaction on the pandemic.
The number of signatures required is set by state law at 25 percent of the turnout in the last gubernatorial election. The 2018 election results set the signature requirement at 668,327 signatures. The group had also sought to recall Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes.
Polewczynski’s post triggered a wave of posts from group members saying they had signatures they hadn’t turned in and others expressing frustration given Polewczynski’s earlier proclamation that the group had enough.
In 2012 a campaign successfully recalled then-Governor Scott Walker, but Walker defeated second-time challenger Tom Barrett in the recall election. Evers defeated Walker in 2018.
How sweet the lies are When they come to bite you, you know where!!!! But they will never tell how many they had. Did they learn anything? Doubtful.