This is a bit of interesting news. The man who organized the recall drive against Democratic Wisconsin State Senator Dave Hansen has thrown his hat into the ring for a run at Hansen's Senate seat. As reported by WTAQ.com, David Vander Leest announced his state Senate campaign yesterday on his Facebook page. Vander Leest has already filed the papers for Green Bay's Senate district 20 as a Republican.
This is very good news for Democrats, and for Sen. Dave Hansen in particular. Some of you may recall that it was the "Recall Dave Hansen" office that was allegedly broken into back in April, and Vander Leest reported that petitions with signatures, t-shirts, and a computer were among the items reported missing. The police noted that a window had apparently been broken as the means of gaining access to the office.
But as the Green Bay Progressive website pointed out at the time, the "burglars" must have been torn to shreds entering through the window that still contained broken shards of glass along the bottom of the broken window. Given the complete lack of blood in the office, however, some of us wondered if the "burglars" were able to float through the jagged hole, thus avoiding any injury. The most practical folks simply concluded that the "break-in" was staged. Of note, the outcome of the official police investigation has never been discussed in the press.
The suspicious nature of the "break-in" led some of us to question if the organizer of the "Recall Dave Hansen" campaign might really be capable of such an act. After all, being an angry conservative is one thing, but filing a false police report, staging a crime, and attempting to frame your opponents is quite another. Some of those actions are illegal, some unethical, and some both.
I would argue that David Vander Leest appears to be quite capable of doing all of those things, as he seems to have an anger management problem. Just ask his ex-wife. On April 29 of this year, Rebecca Vander Leest filed for two restraining orders against David Vander Leest - one for domestic abuse, and one for child abuse. Although neither injunction was granted, and we are therefore instructed by the State of Wisconsin that "(t)he fact that a petition was originally filed means nothing," I would argue that, in fact, it does mean something.
In August 2009, Mr. Vander Leest was arrested in Brown County, Wisconsin (Green Bay area), and charged with battery and disorderly conduct, as well as misdemeanor bail jumping. At the time of his first court appearance, Mr. Vander Leest was ordered "to have no contact with Rachel V or her residence or place of employment." Those charges were eventually dismissed.
Apparently though, Mr. Vander Leest was really, really upset that the Brown County police had the nerve to arrest him. In December of 2009, he filed a civil suit against the City of Green Bay alleging "Damages for Trespass, Fraud, False Swearing, False Testifying, Lying Under Oath, Discrimination, and Constitutional Violations by Writ of Mandamus." Even though Mr. Vander Leest had filed the lawsuit himself, he then applied for representation by the Public Defender's office, on the basis of his claimed indigency. That request was denied. The court dismissed the lawsuit as unfounded.
Prior to that, in August 2006 and again in October 2006 Rachel Vander Leest filed for two other restraining orders for domestic abuse in two separate counties. The October 2006 injunction was granted for a term of four years, and carried a "(f)irearms surrender order" as well, meaning Mr. Vander Leest was thought to be so volatile the court did not trust him with firearms. The October 2006 court records also show that initially Mr. Vander Leest was charged with battery, disorderly conduct, and intimidation of a witness by force or threat of force. He pled down to disorderly conduct. That injunction was dismissed over one year later, in January 2008.
The August 2006 injunction was also granted for a period of four years. Apparently, however, Mr. Vander Leest did not pay attention to that injunction, because later in August 2006 he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. He was found guilty, and a condition of his sentence was that he have no contact with - you guessed it - Rachel Vander Leest. Another condition was that he consume no alcohol.
Not to be outdone by his wife's claims of domestic abuse, I suppose, Mr. Vander Leest filed for a restraining order against his wife in August 2006, one day before she filed hers. That request was denied due to insufficient supporting evidence.
Rachel Vander Leest also filed for, and was granted, a temporary restraining order for domestic abuse against her husband in October 2005.
Most recently, Mr. Vander Leest has interacted with the Brown County Courts (the guy just can't seem to stay away, apparently) by trying to file civil charges against the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He filed to have a "Harassment Restraining Order" applied against the Democratic Party based on their phone calls to persons who had signed the "Recall Dave Hansen" petition. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin had called some of the petitioners to verify that their signatures were genuine and that they knew what they had been signing.
The Brown County Court dismissed Mr. Vander Leest's case. However, I note that the last court record pertaining to this case notes the "Respondent's Motion to Dismiss and Refer David Vanderleest to the Brown County Distric Attorney's Office for Prosecution." This indicates that the Democratic Party wants Mr. Vander Leest prosecuted for something, and it looks as if the motion was carried. I have no further information about that.
Clearly, Mr. Vander Leest has a history of volatile and violent behavior. It certainly is possible that he might have staged a break-in at his office to try to frame the Democrats and tarnish their image. This, and his history, bring into question Mr. Vander Leest's fitness for public office. A man with that many restraining orders filed against him, and multiple convictions for disorderly conduct is not the type of man who should hold office.
From my perspective, then, he is the perfect candidate to run as a Republican against Democrat Dave Hansen. There is no possible way he will be able to maintain his composure throughout a campaign, and his convictions and history of domestic abuse should make even Republicans shy away from supporting him.
