JoAnne Kloppenburg won Sheila Harsdorf's district
After filing recall petitions against Republican state Senators Dan Kapanke and Randy Hopper, Wisconsin Democrats are on the brink of filing a third recall petition. The latest target is Shelia Harsdorf:
Those gathering signatures to force incumbent State Senator Sheila Harsdorf into a recall election in June have indicated they have collected more than the 15,000-plus signatures needed.(…)
The effort to collect signatures has resulted in 110 percent of the signatures needed but the group wants to get 125 percent before filing their petition. That will provide a safe margin, they say, when signatures are challenged by the opposition.
That report was from Saturday. Earlier today came news that Harsdorf recall organizers were holding a rally tonight, which is something recall organizers did just before officially filing petitions against Kapanke and Hopper:
The Committee to Recall Harsdorf, a group organized to recall Wisconsin state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-District 10), issued an announcement to supporters Sunday night about "big news" to be announced at a rally 6 p.m. Monday at the St. Croix County Government Center in Hudson.
St. Croix County Democratic Party Chairperson Cathy Leaf on Sunday declined to comment about the event.
Even though our PPP recall polls showed both state Senators Robert Cowles and Luther Olsen to be more vulnerable, the recall election against Harsdorf may still be the tipping point for control of the Wisconsin state Senate. This is because JoAnne Kloppenburg won Harsdorf's district with 51.3% of the vote despite underperforming relative to Democratic poll numbers statewide.
Along with Dan Kapanke, who is in an extremely Democratic district, and Randy Hopper, who is a freshman facing a personal scandal, defeating Harsdorf would be enough to swing control of the Wisconsin state Senate to Democrats. With the signature goal against Harsdorf certain to be met, and with turnout patterns in the district already looking strong, control of the Wisconsin state Senate is now indisputably in play.