Could 'Fake Democrat' Win Wisconsin Senate Recall Primary?

Democrat Sandy Pasch says she is confident she will win Tuesday's special primary election and go on to challenge incumbent Sen. Alberta Darling in the Aug. 9 recall election.

But with Wisconsin's open primaries - in which anyone can vote the Democratic primary - Pasch's victory is not a sure thing in the 8th Senate District.

Pasch, of Whitefish Bay, faces , 80, a Mequon Republican activist whose candidacy forced the primary and delayed the general election until Aug. 9.

Voters can cast their ballots from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the 8th District, which includes Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Bayside and Menomonee Falls. To find out where to vote, visit the state's Voter Pubilc Access website.

Huber, according to campaign finance records, raised $750 - a fraction of what Pasch and Darling (R-River Hills) have taken in. Huber, a "fake Democrat," has done no general campaign mailings and has refused to talk to the media about her candidacy.

Don't have to be a Democrat to vote in primary

But Wisconsin's system of open primaries means that voters do not have to share a political party's affiliation to vote in its primary. In some states, for example, only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary.

Reid Magney, a spokesman for the state's Government Accountability Board, said the notion dates back to the early days in state history and was intended to prevent party bosses and the wealthy from controlling who would be a candidate.

Clerks in several communities in the 8th District say they're planning for a high turnout. In Fox Point, for example, .

Still, despite the ongoing news coverage of the recall, it will be tough to get voters out for a mid-summer election, said Mordecai Lee, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The candidate "with the best chauffeur service" will win, Lee predicted.

All started with budget repair bill

Darling is one of six Republican and three Democratic senators targeted for a recall this summer. At the heart of the efforts is Gov. Scott Walker's that stripped state and local government workers of most of their collective bargaining rights.

Control of the state Senate is at stake. If the Democrats have a net pickup of three seats, they will take control of the Senate. Currently, the Republicans control the Assembly and Senate, making it relatively easy for Walker to push through his agenda.

The Republicans are being targeted for recall because of their support for the budget repair bill. The three incumbent Democrats are on the hot seat because they fled to Illinois in an effort to thwart passage of the measure by the state Senate.

Legal challenges delayed but did not stop enactment.

There were also court challenges to the sufficiency of the petitions for the recall elections. That was settled Friday when .

Earlier, the Republican leaders acknowledged they were fronting fake Democrats in all six of the races recalling Republicans. They said it was necessary to delay the process because the Republican senators were busy passing a balanced state budget and had no time to campaign.

Redistricting a factor in delay, Pasch says

Pasch said the true intent of the delay came out Friday, when the Republicans released their redistricting plan. They plan on adopting it by July 19, before the recall elections.

Every 10 years, the Legislature has to redraw political boundaries to reflect population shifts.

"I guess they are very afraid that they are going to lose control of the Senate," Pasch said. "That is clearly why they are doing it with no public input."

The redrawn map radically alters the Senate and Assembly districts for the North Shore, especially Shorewood.

The 8th Senate seat now held by Darling will extend deeper into Waukesha County, a traditional Republican stronghold. Shorewood would be placed in the 4th Senate District, along with much of the north side of Milwaukee. That district is represented by Democrat Lena Taylor.

"What the Republicans are doing is saying that if I win the recall, they will make it hard for me to keep the seat," said Pasch.

A redistricting plan will go into effect in 2012.