Effort begins to recall senators

A Utah based group has started the process of recalling some of the 14 missing state senators.

American Recall Coalition filed the paperwork Tuesday with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. The group has 60 days to collect the required signatures to force a recall vote. That means getting roughly 16,000 signatures for each of the eight Democratic state senators eligible to be recalled.

Thousands of protestors have been calling for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker. But the law requires someone to be in office for at least a year before that process can start.

So, specifically which senators are eligible to be recalled? Roughly half of the 33 state senators are elected every two years for four-year terms. Last fall, senators were elected in 17 odd-numbered districts. They are not eligible for recall. In 2008, the 16 senators in the even-numbered districts were elected. That included eight Democrats.

The eligible eight include Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona), who spoke for the Democrats Tuesday night; the longest serving Wisconsin legislator ever - State Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison); Green Bay's Dave Hansen; Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and Jim Holperin (D-Conover) from north and central Wisconsin; and Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee), and Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) from southeastern Wisconsin.

Any recall vote would happen in each individual senator's district.