Effort to recall Governor Walker will begin Nov. 15

APPLETON - On Nov. 15, the date an effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker is set to begin, it will have been about nine months since protesters invaded the state Capitol grounds in Madison.

“Obviously it has calmed down somewhat, but it has not died,” said Michael Brown of Appleton, the founder of United Wisconsin.

United Wisconsin is leading the grassroots effort to recall Walker.

“We are going to cover every corner of Wisconsin,” said Brown.

The group wants to collect more than 700,000 signatures, about 160,000 signatures more than the required amount of 540,208, according to Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board. If the effort starts on schedule, the group's collection deadline will be Jan. 17.

Brown says United Wisconsin will have about 17 offices setup throughout Wisconsin before the effort begins in mid-November. He also says United Wisconsin has about 2,000 volunteers, a number he expects to grow.

“It's not going to take away from the focus we have as the governor,” said Walker.

Walker says he will take the recall effort seriously.

“We're focused right now on a special session, that's going to be another wave of us creating more jobs and helping the private sector put more people to work,” said Walker.

September numbers from a Democratic Party of Wisconsin poll show a Walker recall vote favor him becoming only the second governor in U.S. history to be successfully recalled from office.

“I suspect that we'll see at least a drop in interest for the Walker recall, but I still think the effort is going to score enough signatures for them to put him on the ballot for a recall,” said Charley Jacobs, a political science professor at St. Norbert College.

With no delays, the soonest an election could take place is March 27. So far, no Democrats have confirmed they will run. If more than one does, the March date would be a primary. The general election would then be April 24 at the earliest.

“It's hard to say today whether or not the public’s approval or disapproval will remain the same,” said Jacobs.