Koch-linked group makes $150K ad buy in WI recalls

State Sen. Dave Hansen, who just beat back a recall effort (by a mile) spoke to his Teamster brothers and sisters at Joint Council 39 in Wisconsin last night about the upcoming elections.

And there's lots of recall news.

Today One Wisconsin Now reports the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity

...has just purchased over $150,000 in television ad time for Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee in what could be a new wave of spending to try and save the six Republican state Senators who are being recalled for their support of Gov. Scott Walker’s reckless attacks on public education, health care, workers’ rights and the middle class. This is in addition to $380,000 Americans for Prosperity previously spent this year to support Walker’s agenda.

And now the social conservatives have entered the fray, trying to muddy the waters by making the election about cultural issues. Reports Greg Sargent at the Washington Post,

In a development that raises the stakes in the Wiconsin recall fight, a number of religious conservative groups — anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, and pro-intelligent design organizations — have quietly joined the fray in Wisconsin, blanketing the state with flyers and TV ads backing GOP recall targets and aggressively attacking their Dem challengers.

There are tons of ads being aired in Wisconsin for both the Aug. 9 recall of the six Republican state senators and the Aug. 16 recall of the two remaining Democratic state senators. For a handy guide to all of them, click here.

The polls are looking good for the good guys (the Teamster-endorsed candidates, that is), thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers. Yesterday, the umbrella group for the recall effort announced 

We Are Wisconsin made our 1,000,000th attempt to talk to targeted voters in these state senate districts. You read that right —11,539 volunteers and staff have knocked on 363,916 doors and made 688,560 phone calls to reach 1,052,476 contacts.

If you want to help out and make sure we recall 'em all, go to the WeAreWisconsin.org website.

Wisconsin's now a stadium (VIDEO)

Watch Ed Schultz interview a very happy Dave Hansen, who crushed his opponent last night in the first of nine Wisconsin recall elections. We like what Dave had to say:

People believe in what we're doing, standing up for working men and women, seniors, veterans.

Hansen, a Teamster, had way more money than his opponent, a deadbeat tax-evader with an arrest record. But some of the candidates for the next eight recall elections may not be so easy for the Teamster-endorsed candidates to beat. Writes the Associated Press,

The state Republican party has hinted that it might dip into its own cash reserves to help candidates who emerge from the primaries. The party had $479,000 in the bank as of June 30, more than double the $193,000 reported by the Democrats.

VanderLeest was vulnerable not only because of Hansen's major cash advantage, but because of a criminal record that included convictions in 2006 on two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct. After the election, VanderLeest said he was heartened by the outcome despite the loss, noting that he won 34 percent of the vote even though he ran on a shoestring budget.

But as John Nichols points out on The Ed Show, Hansen was thought to be vulnerable because Green Bay had gotten more Republican lately. Said Nichols,

The Democrats appear to be incredibly energized, the Republicans not so much.

Numbers from the primary elections tell the story. There were two Republican primaries last night to pick challengers for the other two Democratic state senators facing recall. Writes Beyond Chron,

But the bigger story is to compare the turnout in last night’s two Republican primaries – with the turnout in last week’s six Democratic primaries. In the Republican contests, only 9,000 people voted in one contest – and about 19,000 in the other. Meanwhile, the average turnout in the Democratic primaries (where six real Democrats crushed “fake” Democrats who were there to prolong the process), turnout averaged about 35,000 voters.

And as @ImaFredHead tweeted,

GOP got 15,540 "valid" signatures to recall Dave Hansen, but only 10,604 showed up to vote against him. #flipthesenate #wirecall #wiunion

The Republicans who won last night are, well, vulnerable. We'll get to them later.

blue cheddar, as usual, has a perceptive take on what has been happening in Wisconsin:

The Wisconsin movement has a lot of pent up steam after watching popular press completely ignore it for weeks at a time. At this point, when Ed Schultz shows seconds of video of people booing Scott Walker I guarantee you that glee erupts in hundreds of thousands of households in Wisconsin. These gleeful watchers are not long-time political junkies that have some kind of dignified game face to keep. These are untold numbers of regular Joes who started to use facebook and twitter for the first time in February only so they could get information on Wisconsin politics that wasn’t available from corporate news. They wear the “Recall Walker” game jersey, throw protest signs in cars “just in case”, and devote hours of their summer days to recalling Republican senators: the weakness in the Walker administration they can effectively attack. They have a lot of “skin in the game” and if you don’t know it yet, it is NOT just collective bargaining rights that is at stake. In this game, they are rabid fans that consider all of Wisconsin home turf – probably for the first time in their lives. As Russ Feingold said at Walkerville “The game’s not over until we win.”

Wisconsin’s now a stadium. With Hansen’s win, the roar of the stadium’s crowd just got louder.

Today's Teamster News 07.20.11

Democratic senator Hansen retains seat in recall attempt  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ..."A win like this, in my mind, creates momentum for the next eight recall races," Hansen said...
S.B. 5 foes say petition drive made it  Columbus Dispatch   ...More than 800,000 valid signatures have been found on the Senate Bill 5 referendum petition, opponents of the law said as yesterday's deadline passed for county elections boards to turn in signature totals...
Poll: Voters would reject Emergency Manager law  Michigan Messenger   ...The poll found strong opposition to the law in both union and non-union households...
Conferees reconcile 4 spending bills  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...Four days after reaching a global budget agreement, GOP leaders and the governor hammered out a deal Monday on four spending bills...
Report says N.J. to have painfully slow economic recovery  Politics Patrol   ...New Jersey gained 11 percent of jobs lost during the recession compared to 20 percent nationwide...
Standing Up for Economic Rights Is a Human Right  Huffington Post   ...As Arab citizens take to the streets, at great risk, to secure economic rights and democratic voice in their respective countries, several extremist governors and advocates are stripping American workers of their economic rights and voice by working to eliminate or weaken collective bargaining and voter protections...

HANSEN WINS!! Woo-hoo!!!

The line to vote today in Wisconsin.

AP calls it: Hansen wins!

It's looking like a blowout.

This is the beginning of a long climb back for America's middle class.

We are so proud of our Teamster brother, after he courageously left his family in Wisconsin to prevent radicals from destroying government unions.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa had a good take on it:

In Madison this winter, Teamsters said they’d hold the line for the middle class and that’s exactly what this Teamster did. Dave Hansen courageously left Wisconsin to prevent an anti-union vote, and extremists couldn’t stand it so they forced a recall. I’m so pleased that the voters in Dave’s district understand that he stands for organized labor because organized labor stands for them.

This isn’t just about Wisconsin. This is about truck drivers and nurses and teachers fighting back against a corporate conspiracy to destroy unions. This is about Main Street rising up and telling billionaires that it’s time for them to pay their fair share. This is about restoring the American Dream for working families.

I hope this is the beginning of a movement that carries on through the rest of the recall elections and beyond Wisconsin.

And some comments from the tweetosphere:

@jimwitkins

Want to thank David Hansen for risking his job for what was right. You stood up for WI families. #wi14 #WIunion

@WorkingAmerica

High enthusiasm in #SD30 RT @WeRWisconsin: over 17,000 votes in, in the Hansen race #wiunion #wirecall #1u

@spudlovr:

To rest of Fab14, know that #wiunion has got your back! Why? Because you care abt working folk, poor and the dem process. #wirecall

Supporters turning out in droves for Hansen in WI recall

The GOTV effort for Dave Hansen.

Appleton Wonk at bluecheddar tells us political activity is white hot in Wisconsin as volunteers are coming out in droves to support our Teamster brother Dave Hansen.

Turnout appears to be heavy in the Green Bay area. We learn from the tweetosphere that the line to vote in Marinette was nearly out the door.

We posted that the world is watching this election on the Teamsters Facebook page. Adam Clarke commented:

We sure are. -- Tasmania, Australia

Reports Appleton Wonk:

Incumbent Democrat Dave Hansen is facing Republican David Vanderleest in the first general recall election. It’s “all hands on deck” as people are coming out in droves to support Senator Hansen. There’s still time to help Dave Hansen. Simply show up at the Democratic office at 1061 W. Mason St. in Green Bay. @gbneal59 has assured me that “helping hands are always welcome."

Last night the Fox Cities Organizing for America teams held a GOTV for Dave Hansen as part of their monthly meeting. At the end of the evening 1,088 calls were made by 29 volunteers.

 
We like what Nancy Nusbaum said at the GOTV. (She's running against Cowardly Rob Cowles.)

You are here making sure that Dave Hansen's victory is the wind in the sails for other elections that will follow.

Even Walker is predicting a GOP defeat.

Some tweets from the tweetopsphere:

@scontorno

Voted. Was no. 230 out of 1500. Lady leaving the polls w me: "it's so hot it's going to melt the ballots." #wirecall

]@MahlonMitchell:

The House of Labor is on fire in #Wisconsin! But fire fighters from across the State are here to put the fire out! #wiunion #1u #wipolitics

@tiffanybrault

So happy to see some of my Green Bay friends talking about voting on Facebook. Go Dave Hansen! #wirecall #wiunion

@anon_pinko

EXCELLENT! #GreenBay, get to all the seniors you know, find out who needs a ride to the polls! #WIUnion #WI #FliptheSenate 

@kevinjk:

The line to vote in Marinette nearly goes out the door this early on in the #WIrecall election.

Dave Hansen. Recall Election. Today.

Our Teamster brother Dave Hansen, the courageous state senator who left Wisconsin to prevent a vote on a bill to destroy government unions, is up for recall election today.

His opponent, David VanderLeest, led the signature drive to recall Hansen. VanderLeest should have been careful what he wished for. Not only is he likely to lose, but he's been exposed as a tax deadbeat who's been arrested for domestic abuse and accused of child abuse. He went on public radio last week and denied he smoked crack, giving rise to the nickname "Rocks VanderLeest." Now he's threatening to sue the Democrats for "false slander."

The whole world is watching.

From the tweetosphere today

@PGScottwilliams:

Turnout heavy at my polling place in Howard in today's state senate recall election. People waiting in line. #wirecall #wipolitics:

@aterkel:

Wisconsin voters head to polls for first general recall election. http://huff.to/ppc9t4 #wirecall

@smad53:

Calling family in the area now! #thedemsanyway MT @cr8f: Sen Hansen's district map http://tinyurl.com/43mugsz VOTE today #wirecall #WIunion

@MelissaRyan:

Wisconsin WOMEN VOTE! Team EMILY Meetup on Wednesday. http://bit.ly/pidTts #WIunion #WIrecall

@lluttig:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz wearing Packer Green & Gold on MSNBC! Support for Dave Hansen! #flipthesenate #wirecall #wiunion

Today's Teamster News 07.19.11

Wisconsin Recall: Sen. Dave Hansen (D) looking dominant for tomorrow's election  DailyKos   ...If PPP's poll over the weekend is accurate, Democratic recall target Dave Hansen is set to blow out his Republican opponent, David Vanderleest...
Stop sign or green light for Kasich's bus? (opinion)  Toledo Blade   ..."I don't want to live in the Ohio envisioned by Governor Kasich. We are in a class war and for now, the wealthy are winning...
50-something Michigan pensioners take biggest hit under new tax plan  mlive.com   ...Taxpayers in just about every income group and age category will pay higher income taxes in 2013 under the tax overhaul Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican-led Legislature pushed through last spring...
SEIU tears apart budget deal, calls compromise ‘irresponsible’  Minnesota Independent   ... the union does not believe Dayton should have given ”in to the demands of the GOP leadership, who have refused to negotiate in good faith, and who would use the state’s children, middle class and working families as a human shield to protect 7,700 multi-millionaires from having to share any of the burden of the state’s fiscal problems,...
Goldman Sachs slashes economic forecast  Market Watch   ... Do we just muddle along with slow growth or do we sink into another recession?...
Fall in Property-Tax Revenue Squeezes Cities   Wall Street Journal   ...Local governments have endured the first back-to-back declines in quarterly property-tax revenue on record, Census Bureau data show, in part because some have been unable or unwilling to raise tax rates fast enough to offset drops in home prices...

The world is watching WI recall elections

...But that doesn't mean every voter who lives in our Teamster brother Dave Hansen's district shouldn't get out and cast a ballot tomorrow (if they haven't already). Teamsters vowed to hold the line for the middle class in Wisconsin, and that's exactly what these recalls are all about.

The whole world may not be aware that one senate Democrat faces the first recall election tomorrow,  or that more recall elections will take place over the next month. But the world is watching as middle-class citizens fight back against a brazen power grab by corporate-backed politicians in Wisconsin. These recalls are setting the stage for the recall of Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker in 168 days.  They will probably also result in Democrats retaking the majority in Wisconsin's state senate, which means Walker's radical attacks on working families are likely to be checked.

Blogging Blue reports that Wisconsin Republicans are already spinning the expected Hansen victory as well as the Democrats retaking the Senate:

The right-wing Cheddarsphere has already started doing damage control for the upcoming recall elections. Not just the fiasco that is David Vanderleest, but the very real possibility probability that the democrats will retake the Wisconsin Senate. Dave Hansen should cruise to an easy win, heaven help the United States if he doesn’t.

And in related recall news, Walker has been caught in another lie by Politifact Wisconsin. Politifact tells us Walker claimed in a July 7 column that "

Under our (2011-’13) budget, the average (Wisconsin) property taxpayer will save $700.

Politifact says the truth is:

The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects the typical homeowner would see a $55 increase in two years compared with 2010. 

Bringing the thunder on the WI Truth Tour



The Truth Tourbus

Since you just can't count on the mainstream media to cover events important to working people, you have to depend on the tweetosphere. Fortunately there are twitterers in Green Bay today, letting the world know about the Wisconsin Truth Tour.

Thanks to Peter Rickman and others, we're getting a good sense of a rock 'em, sock 'em rally in the parking lot of the Teamsters Hall. Even better, there is now a long line of people waiting to get packets so they can knock on doors for our Teamster brother Dave Hansen, whose election is on Tursday.

At 9:30 Central Time, @peter_rickman reports the lot filled up with trade unionists and local citizens. Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Nieuenfeldt opened the event with a speech:

Nieuenfeldt

You can't launch all-out attack on workers, education and healthcare and expect people to take it lying down...

Cuts to the middle class vs tax cuts for corporations and the rich? Which side are you on?

Then Mahlon Mitchell, head of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, got the crowd fired up with a round of chants. The Wisconsin AFL-CIO blog reports that Mitchell said,

What we have seen in Madison is disastrous. We have seen child labor laws weakened, voter suppression bills enacted, earned income tax credit increased on the poor, cuts to BadgerCare and Medicare – this is no longer Wisconsin, this is the United Corporations of America.

Mike Bolton from Steelworkers District 2 brought the thunder, @steelworkers tweets:

Brother Bolton taking on, calling out tea partiers. Preach it! #wiunion #WITruth

Mike Bolton sez: We're here becuz Dave Hansen stood up 4 us, now we stand up 4 him. #wiunion #WITruth

And, again thanks to the Wisconsin AFL-CIO blog, we find out that Jason Albertz,  a paraprofessional educator from Green Bay who works with special education children at Webster Elementary School, came to help get out the vote for Dave Hansen. He said,

Scott Walker and GOP Legislators are putting big corporations and wealthy campaign donors above what is best for me, my family and the people of Wisconsin. We have been taken by surprise.  I would never have imagined such extreme changes in such a short period of time.... Sen. Hansen stood up and fought for workers last February and will continue to advocate for the middle class instead of catering to corporate CEOs.

Some more tweets:

@wisaflcio

WItruth tour bus in Green Bay - bringing you the facts and giving citizens a voice

@peter_rickman:

It's all hands on deck to fight the fight for wrkng families. We didn't start it but we will win it. #WITruth #wiunion

On Tuesday, we win for wrkng class champion Dave Hansen, win for workers AND democracy. #wiunion #WITruth

No way I can keep up w/ all the attacks on wrkng ppl @MahlonMitchell listing. Damn! #WITruth #wiunion

@MattKadow:

Solidarity w/ ALL my brothers & sisters on the #WITruth Tour! Give 'em hell! @peter_rickman @MahlonMitchell @wisaflcio

Rickman tweets us the Wisconsin blue fist symbol was everywhere in Green Bay, including this permanent tat on a UFCW member:

WI Truth Tour starts at Teamsters Hall today

It's a 2-1/2 week bus tour that tells the truth about Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's savage budget cuts and union busting.

It starts with a rally in a little over an hour at Teamsters Hall in Green Bay. That's where our brother, state Sen. Dave Hansen, lives. He stands for election on Tuesday against a deadbeat Republican. After the rally, there'll be Get Out the Vote canvass and phone banking.

Read the details about the Truth Tour here.

And here's the latest news and commentary about it from the tweetosphere (hashtag is #WITruth):

@Ericming5

#TruthTour first stop in Green Bay this morning @ 1546 Main St 930 AM. Featuring state labor leaders and local citizen speakers.

@Hershinmad

Dem volunteers working overtime for Hanson b4 next Tues. Curious to see how GOP will spin Vanderleest, #AKASheenOfTheNorthwoods. #WiRecall

@MahlonMitchell:

When did nurses, teachers,firefighters,state workers, become the problem? The real problem deregulation of banks, wallstreet. #wiunion

@peter_rickman

On the way to GB/Hansen country 4 1st stop on #wiunion #WITruth tour. Dude kicks ass 4 wrkng class.

First #WITruth of the day: Dave Hansen is the real deal. David Vanderleest is real scary.

Going 2 have @MahlonMitchell Phil Neuenfeldt from @wisaflcio Mike Bolton from @steelworkers and community members speaking today.

VanderLeest denies smoking crack...

...but you'll have to decide for yourself whether the deadbeat Republican accused of wife beating and child abuse is telling the truth.

VanderLeest led the recall drive against our Teamster brother, Wisconsin state Sen. Dave Hansen. On Tuesday, Aug. 9, voters will decide whether they want a champion of the middle class or a candidate who appears to be a crackpot (we couldn't resist).

Talking Points Memo reports that VanderLeest and Hansen were interviewed this morning on Wisconsin Public Radio.

"I read a social services report yesterday that says I smoke crack," said VanderLeest, during an interview on Joy Cardin of Wisconsin Public Radio. "None of it's true. I don't smoke rocks, and that's the truth."

The twitter traffic on this is hilarious. Some favorite tweets:
@dan_ps:

Hey Tweeps, any of you know needlepoint? I'll pay good money for an "I don't smoke rocks, and that's the truth" sampler.

@ddayen:

Best campaign slogan ever: "I don't smoke rocks, and that's the truth."

@Coginwi:

Vanderleest - Crack, Pot? Damn the Interviews

@lawofdan:

Nothing says "stays away from crack cocaine" like talking about "smoking rocks"

Could a ham sandwich beat David VanderLeest in WI?

Dave Hansen

Oh dear. Our Teamster brother Dave Hansen is facing a recall election on Tuesday because he courageously left the state rather than vote for Koch whore  Gov. Scott Walker's bill to turn middle-class Wisconsinites into peasants. Hansen will face David VanderLeest, a deadbeat with an arrest record and only $2,000 in his campaign fund. VanderLeest is the guy who led the recall campaign against Hansen.

But it gets worse. We learned yesterday that VanderLeest is accused of child abuse. This is America, of course, where people are innocent until proven guilty. And it's mportant to remember that anyone can accuse anyone of anything, and that doesn't make it true.

Still, it can't help VanderLeest's campaign....

That doesn't mean you can sit at home, all you registered voters in Green Bay! They want you to stay home! You really, really need to remember to get out and vote on Aug. 9. The whole nation is watching. If Dave Hansen crushes Dave VanderLeest, it will send a message to Scott Walker and all those other Koch whores that there will be hell to pay if they mess with the middle class.

We Are Wisconsin is working hard to get out the vote for the Aug. 9 election, the first general election in the Wisconsin recalls. Read about it here and find out how you can help.

WI recall: 2nd election is in 6 days

First, let's take a moment to celebrate with the Wisconsin Fight Song.

Now, let's get ready for the next round of recall elections.
@ktuerk tweeted it best:

Last nite was a nice dress rehearsal. Now let's get out & work twice as hard for th big show! WeCanDoThis! #FlipTheSenate #wiunion #wirecall

The next election is for our Teamster brother, state Sen. Dave Hansen, who's being recalled because he had the guts to leave the state rather than vote for Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's radical anti-worker agenda.

Hansen will face a Republican deadbeat with an arrest record, Dave VanderLeest, on July 19. There are also two Republican primaries that day to pick challengers to two other Democrats, Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch.

Here's some news from DailyKos about how those races look:

On a conference call with reporters earlier today, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Mike Tate said that their internal polling shows the three Democratic facing recalls, Senators Bob Wirch, Dave Hansen and Jim Holperin, all over 50 percent against their best-known challengers....

This is not much of a surprise in the case of Wirch and Hansen, as neither was expected to face much trouble in these recalls. However, in the case of Holperin, it is really big news. Holperin's district is significantly more red-leaning than any of the others where Democrats face recalls, and as such there was legitimate worry he was threatened. If Holperin has a solid lead, then there is a much clearer path for Democrats netting three seats they need to flip control of the state Senate.

A new UW Badger Poll also had some promising news:

• 56% disapprove of the job Republicans in the State Legislature are doing.
• 48% disapprove of the job Democrats in the State Legislature are doing.
• Wisconsinites overwhelming think the recall option in the state constitution is a good thing (78%), and 50% said the current recalls of state senators made them feel better about Wisconsin politics.
• 59% of residents statewide preferred that the Democratic state senators remain in office rather than be recalled and 49% said the same of the Republican state senators.

(The UW Badger Poll™ was conducted by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center. Poll results compiled by Chad J. Kniss, Project Director, UW Survey Center. (email: ckniss@ssc.wisc.edu) (office: 608.262.4157)

Nevertheless, let's not get too comfortable. You can bet the Republicans will raise scads of corporate cash and they'll play all kinds of dirty tricks.

We need to send a message to every politician in America that they'll be in a world of hurt if they attack the middle class. And the best way to send that message is to do whatever you can to make sure the six Republican state senators do get recalled and the three Democratic state senators don't.

Sign up to help Dave Hansen here:

Make phone calls on his behalf by going here.

Woo-hoo! Hansen challenger kicked off ballot in WI

Great news! A challenger to our Teamster brother, Wisconsin state Sen. Dave Hansen, has been disqualified from the recall election.

WisPolitics.com has the story:

The Government Accountability Board today ruled GOP state Rep. John Nygren didn't have enough valid signatures on his nomination papers to qualify for the ballot in the 30th SD recall election.

The board found Nygren, R-Marinette, had 398 valid signatures, two short of what he needed. Earlier in the afternoon, the board rejected a challenge to Republican David Vanderleest's nomination papers, leaving him the only Republican on the ballot to challenge Dem Sen. Dave Hansen.

Greg Sargent at the Washington Post explains why this is a big break for the Democrats:

...what happened here is that one of the Dem state senators that Dems and labor thought was genuinely vulnerable to a recall challenge — Dave Hansen — will now no longer face his toughest challenger...

We Are Wisconsin's spokesman Kelly Steele had something to say about that:

The recall efforts in Senate District 30 have seen unprecedented allegations of fraud and corruption, and it’s unfortunate that the man who oversaw and defended of much of that fraud – David VanderLeest – remains on the ballot.

Nevertheless, voters will now face a stark choice between Dave Hansen’s consistent record of standing up for middle class working families against Scott Walker’s radical agenda, and candidate David VanderLeest – whose rap sheet reads like a directory of the Wisconsin state criminal code.

WI recall challenger has shady past

Wisconsin election officials will decide Friday whether to allow recall elections to move forward for three Republican and three Democratic senators. Dave Hansen is one of the Democratic senators facing recall for having the courage to leave the state to stave off a vote to end collective bargaining rights for government workers. Hansen is a 20-year member of Teamsters Local 662 -- and of the “Fab 14" senators who stood up to Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-worker agenda.

If the Government Accountability Board approves the recall petitions on Friday, Hansen will face a field of Republicans interested in his 30th Senate District seat. This includes David VanderLeest, a wind farm developer who led the recall effort against Hansen. VanderLeest's record speaks for itself. It includes bankruptcy, a home foreclosure, an unpaid judgment, building code violations and a misdemeanor conviction. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Specifically, he was convicted of disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor, in 2007. He said the conviction was part of a plea deal in a domestic dispute.

That same year, a bank foreclosed his Green Bay house, which was sold at a sheriff's sale.

Another bank, Associated Bank, won a court judgment for nearly $30,000 against VanderLeest and his company, VanderLeest Enterprises. That sum has never been paid, VanderLeest acknowledged.

In addition, VanderLeest and his then-wife filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2006, meaning he did not have to repay most of his creditors. The bankruptcy filings show that they reported $118,341 in assets and $291,674 in liabilities, including unpaid credit card debts, health care bills and loans.

VanderLeest said he expects to be targeted by top officials in Green Bay. The city has taken him to court over building code violations at properties he owns, leading to more than $1,300 in fines for VanderLeest. His buildings were deemed nuisance properties.

Vanderleest, former second vice chairman of the Brown County Republican Party, said he expected his past problems to become an issue. He vowed to post all of the records related to his troubles on his campaign website, which is not yet online.

Yesterday the GAB cleared the way for a July 12 recall election for three GOP Sens. Dan Hanky-Kapanke, randy Randy Hopper and Lex Luther Olsen.

Just 222 days left to recall Scott Walker!

(VIDEO) WI Dem senator's campaign ad



Sen. Dave Hansen in full Teamster mode.

Out-of-state groups may have collected enough signatures to force a recall of our Teamster brother, Wisconsin state Sen. Dave Hansen. Hansen fled the state to prevent a vote on Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's bill to destroy government unions.
Watch Dave Hansen's campaign video here.

Ruh-roh: 1st recall petition to be filed against WI Dem

Here's the bad news: WisPolitics.com reports that 21,000 signatures will be filed tomorrow to demand a recall election for Wisconsin state Sen. Jim Holperin, one of the Fab 14 Democrats who fled the state to prevent a vote on Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's insane anti-worker budget.

Talking Points Memo tells us Holperin is one of the most vulnerable Democrats, as his district voted 57.4 percent to 40.8 percent for Scott Walker in 2010.

Here's the good news: TPM tells us in 2008 it voted 52.7 percent to 45.7 percent for Barack Obama. And Walker's popularity has tanked.

Here's the strange news: A group that wants to recall our Teamster brother Dave Hansen, another one of the Fab 14, claims its office was broken into and recall petitions were stolen. They said it happened on the night of April 15 or morning of April 16. The deadline for submitting recall petitions for Hansen is April 26. In other words, it's getting down to the wire.

The recall office posted a photo of a broken window with shards of glass along the bottom of the sill. The window is four feet off the ground.  The Democratic Party of Brown County called for an investigation, saying,

A full investigation will also need to determine exactly how someone could gain access to an office through a window surrounded by broken glass that is more than four feet off of ground level. The ability of this criminal who allegedly can climb through a window more than four feet off the ground and make it through a window surrounded by jagged broken glass and to then make the four foot jump to gain entry to the office without hurting themselves is something we would really like to see.